Certain flavors are inextricably tied to their own seasons: a ripe peach in the height of summer, the springtime crunch of a sugar snap pea, a warm fig from a sunny tree branch in early fall.  And also, for our family, matzo.

It’s been a year since matzo was last in season, which had given my kids time to get excited about it again.  I opened a box this afternoon and handed around crisp cracker shards.  There was a moment of crunching, a wrinkled nose, and then a polite verdict: “It’s ok.”  You probably won’t be surprised to learn that you can make a much better version of matzo yourself.  We got to work right away.

This crisp cracker is welcome year round at our house.  It’s good all by itself, but you can make it even more special by topping it with fancy salts and seasonings.  One of my favorite adornments for this cracker (for many things, really) is SugarPill’s fennel and nigella salt.  I like a generous dusting, which is probably overly salty to most palates if you’re eating the matzo alone—but it’s sublime sandwiching a generous dollop of charoset and horseradish. Continue reading →