The Macaroons of Moses

Last year the Obama family hosted the first White House Seder, the ritual meal celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover. The tradition continues this year. Many Americans are unfamiliar with the customs of this dinner, such as the compulsory obligations to tell the Exodus story and drink four glasses of wine (oh, the sacrifices …).

One seasonal custom puzzling to Gentiles is the appearance of canned Kosher cookies in American supermarkets. Many Jews are puzzled as well, since the cookies are macaroons made with coconut, chocolate, and other ingredients not prominent in the Old Testament.

Origins of the Passover macaroon are shrouded in mystery. Some believe the dense sweets derive from hastily assembled desserts prepared by the Israelites as they fled Egyptian bondage on a route devoid of donut shops.

Others maintain that, in the nineteenth century, rabbinical scholars exploring caves near the Dead Sea uncovered a huge cache of ancient cannisters of sweet, rock-hard, unleavened biscuits. Each spring these pious prospectors slapped “Kosher for Passover” labels on the cans and exported them to the growing Jewish community in the United States, and a tradition was born.

The source of these cookies was disguised to avoid legal and religious objections. Consumers were told the leathery pastries were baked by Jewish Scotsmen (“MacAroons”) or exiles (“maroons”), or that the cookies were imported from Cameroon and Morocco (in French, le Maroc).

There are competing origin theories, and Passover custom requires that all must be discussed and debated, especially if there is some wine left. Christianity, which adopted many Pascal customs, developed a sweet, sticky symbol analogous to macaroons and equally indigestible: Peeps.

Happy holidays.

Image (Moses and the Macaroons, after Rembrandt van Rijn) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Tags: cookies, desserts, food, history, humor, macaroons, Passover