The Irish standard., 1891-03-14
uNLEAvENED BREAD
Hebrew Bakers Are Three Moaths Pre-
pairing for the Passover.

uNLEAvENED BREAD.
Hebrew Bakers Are Three Moaths Pro-
pairing for the Passover. M
Over three Thousand years ago the.
Israelites made their exodus from bond
age under Egyptian rulers, and ever
since that time the week following the
fifteenth day of the first Hebrew month,
the month Of Nison, has been set aside
for common grafton of their departure.
It was on the night of the fourteenth OF
Nison that the Hebrews, now number
inc three million, were led to freedom
by Moses. In chapters twelve and thir-
teen of Genesis the manner Of celebra-
ton on the first night OF the feast is
partly told, and there it is commanded
that unleavened bread be eaten on the
first night and no leaven be kept III the
house at any time during the week.
This is in remembrance of the fact that
the Jews in their hurry to leave Egypt
were forced to take along 11nleavened
bread, which they had to bake IN the
sun. A great many lsraelites have
separate set of dishes to be used once
year during this week only. and those
who have not an extra set OF dishes
scour out their dishes thoroughly. In
Europe, when they happen to have any
bread or other sort of leaven in the
house the housewife locks the pantry
and hands over che key to some old
Christian friend Of hers to keep till the
feast is over.
The making Of these 11nleavened cakes
called matzos has come to be quite an
industry in this country says the Times
Star of Cincinnati. For three months
before the feast of passover the matzos
bakers are busy, and nearly eight mil
lion matzCs are baked III this city from
the middle Of January to the middle OF
April. This represents about four hun
dred and forty five thousand dollars.
Said the head baker at a large bakery:
's1Ve make about eight thousand matzos
q day, for which we use four barrels Of
-four"
''Do you use the ordinary holr?"
eyes, but it is the finest quality and
has to be examined by q Hebrew, who
Judges whether it is satisfactory. We
buy ours in this city. Then the water
used must be put into a vessel before
shutdown and remain to settle for the
whole night. This bakery is for baking
unleavened bread only, and every ching
is especially got for this bakery, even to
the rags we USE
slow do you prepare the hour??'
'fWe take, say, fifteen pounds Of -four,
and, mixing it with water we put it
into copper kettle, where it is thor
ouglaly mixed. Then this man, the
kneader, takes it, and on this block by
means of pressing on this heavy beam,
he kneads the dough to the proper CO.
hesiveness.;" The reporter saw a block,
On top Of which was a beam four feet
long fastened by spring at the backof
the block; and there was a man jump
ing on and Off the beam, SO as to make
a sort of artificial kneader, the beam
rising when the man jumped off.
lit is then taken to the next room,'
said the baker, sand about a third Of it
at time is passed seven times through
these rollers, which, you see, are ar
ranged like clothes~wringer rollers,
only these are iron. Having been so
pressed, it is of the proper thickness.
Care has to be taken here that while
one piece Of dough is being pressed the
other pieces should not become too hard; !
therefore man is continually beating
them. The piece OF dough, now a strip
ten inches wide by ten feet long, is put
under the hands of man who uses a
roller much like the ordinary dough
roller except that there are sharp pro-
iections sticking out all around to make
little holes in the cakes. Next to him
is a man with sharpened wheel which
he uses 10 cut the strip into pieces, each
the length of O. cake, These pieces are
put into Ri oven, and in two minutes
they are done"
And the gentleman handed the re-
porter natzo, which was almost
tasteless except for the slight browning
it had received.
care these cakes made the same way
in Europe?''
s'No; abroad there is more hard work.
Women knead the dough by hand, and
the cakes are thicker than we make
them here. ..s
sMatzos cost about ten cents a pound,
and the meal which we make by grind
ing broken matzos costs eleven cents a
pound. We make one hundred pounds
of meal day"