PASSOVER MATZOH: My Family Agrees, It's Osem

Passover is the day we celebrate freedom from slavery and a supposedly seminal event in Jewish history. Well, the historical basis for this is uncertain. But for Jews around the world this holiday is a major part of our year and Matzoh plays a central role.

My family is not so religious, as people have probably gathered. One Passover we spent with a friend that ordered a massive amount of Chinese food for our celebration. The eggroll of our affliction...and pork products did play a role in the Seder.

And when it comes to Matzoh, my family is eclectic. We often get egg and onion...usually Streits. My son loves "yellow Matzoh" meaning Goodman's egg Matzoh. Plain Matzoh is fine. Everything Matzoh (Manishevitz) is a bit much, but not bad. And chocolate covered Matzoh, if it uses good dark chocolate, can be an amazing thing! The only one we were left a bit flat by, though we appreciated the effort, was Manishevitz "Mediterranean" Matzoh didn't quite work. Also some egg Matzoh is made with fruit juice and this just doesn't work for us.

One year we happened to buy a 5-pack of Matzoh for Passover. We tend to eat Matzoh on a regular basis...all of us. So buying in bulk around Passover makes sense.

This year we happened to grab the Osem "Israeli Matzoh," subtitled "Matzoh with a Mitzvah" because they donate some tiny amount of gelt to plant trees for every 5-pack people buy. Planting trees is good. So we bought it.

Then we tasted it. THIS is what Matzoh should be!!

All four of us agree...this is some of the best Matzoh we have ever tried. A bit dry, but that is what you expect. PERFECTLY fresh, crisp and tasty. I love it. My wife loves it. My teenage step daughter, who currently disparages the world, loved it. My son...he ate it. We are not sure if it's his favorite, but it sure pleased him.

Osem's "Israeli Matzoh with a Mitzvah" is THE Matzoh to eat. Don't know how easy it is to find outside of NYC, but we got it at our regular supermarket. So if you like Matzoh, buy the Osem 5-pack. My entire family rarely agrees 100% on something. But we all LOVED this Matzoh.

And for those who think a review of Passover Matzoh is too trivial to blog about, well, all I can say is take it up with Moishe. He's the one who led us out of Egypt and gave us those commandments.

Return to Mole's Consumer Advice Page.

Return to I Had a Thought