The seder plate contains 6 symbolic foods: maror (bitter herb), charoset, chazeret (“lettuce”), karpas (vegetable), z’roa (shank bone), and beitzah (egg). The egg is
unique because to me, it is the most far removed from exact events that happened during the time of the exodus. The egg is on the plate to commemorate the festival
sacrifice that was brought to the Temple in Jerusalem, and roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Passover night. However, the symbolism of the egg is deeper than just
this.
An egg is the first food a mourner eats when he or she returns from a funeral, which is why it is brought for the festival offering instead of meat. This is to evoke the
idea of mourning over the loss of the Temple. The reason that the egg is a symbol of mourning is that it is a round food, which symbolizes the circle of life.
Additionally, eggs are the only food which get harder the longer they are cooked. So too, the Jewish people get “harder,” or stronger, the longer that we are oppressed.
We eat the egg to remind us that although we went through a hard time in Egypt, and continue to go through hard times, with the destruction of the Temples, the
Holocaust, and rampant anti-Semitism, this emotional and mental “cooking” only makes us stronger, harder, and more united.
Here I have developed a few special hard boiled egg recipes based on my favorite flavor combinations for omelets. While the recipe for “9 eggs” might seem weird, it has always worked for me. You hard boil 1 dozen, use 1 egg to test if the batch is done, and in the process of peeling and cutting the eggs, you usually sacrifice 1 or 2.
Deviled eggs are one of those foods that is so daunting to make, yet so simple, delicious, and impressive for guests. I had never made them until this summer, and although it was a bit time consuming, all of the steps were simple, and the satisfaction I got from my guests “Mmmmmm”’s while they closed their eyes eating the hard boiled delicacies made it well worth the effort.
Horseradish Deviled Eggs
Roasted Red Pepper and Pesto Deviled Eggs
and You can use this dairy recipe with the eggs that did not make it onto the seder plate, and serve them at yuntif lunch (my family usually goes dairy to lighten
things up).
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A few notes about eggs:
1. Old eggs work better for hard-boiling. I know that the idea of using anything “old” is unappealing, but they work much better!
2. With only 70 calories per egg and often costing around $1.60 a dozen, eggs are an incredibly healthy and inexpensive source of protein. I know people who eat 5 eggs a day! Just try to keep a window open when you cook them.
3. Eggs have a plethora of health benefits that you can find here: http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/10-health-benefits-of-eggs.html
4. When making deviled eggs, TASTE the yolk mixture before you put it in the egg. I once mis-read a recipe and added 3 times the amount of salt into the yolk mixture by accident. Since I didn’t taste the eggs until after I had made all 42 deviled eggs, I didn’t have time to remedy this. Had I tasted the mixture, I would have simply added mayonnaise to make it palatable.
Great tips Jess, thanks. I made Asian deviled eggs this year to start off my Asian seder, everyone loved them.