An Afro Jewish Passover

 The story of the enslaved ancient Israelites means much to African= Americans and more so to African-American Jews. It's no wonder that their Passovers are filled with rich traditions and deep empathy. This shows in their choices for  a meaningful seder that respects one tradition with food from another one.

Regular contributor and columnist to The Bittman Project , Kayla Stewart wrote about them and their traditions. Most face prejudice from Jews of European ancestry according to the Jews of Color Initiative which supports and empowers the African American ones. The number is growing although there have been Black Jews throughout American history There are parallels to both stories and the food reflects both.It is a tale of struggle and liberation. The Jews were enslaved for four hundred years and then finally released after God inflicted ten plagues to persuade Pharaoh to free the Jewish people He also instructed Moses to sacrifice a lamb and mark the door with its' blood so that the Angel of Death "passes over their homes. Moses parts the Red Sea for their escape and  the Jews wander the desert for forty years. There are strong similarities to the African American freeing and struggle. To many the story rings true as they celebrate with African influenced foods. 

Ms. Stewart includes recipes, from chef and historian Michael M. Twitty's  soon to be published Koshersoul  (Harper Collins Amstead 2022). This is  kachumbari an onion and tomato salad with roots in Kenya. There is also a brisket in the West African style spiked with spices as turmeric and ginger. It's cooked with tomatoes , white and yellow onions and bell peppers.  A traditional Passover  food horseradish is added to this. Chef Twitty, who is Afro-Jewish himself also has an interesting fried chicken recipe made with ground matzo meal. The chicken is  dipped in a mix of poultry seasoning blended with a  host of spices from ground ginger and cinnamon to ground allspice and cloves.The chicken parts are left to absorb these for an hour or two in the fridge. Afterwards it's then dipping the chicken in beaten egg and then the matzoh meal , much in the way of any fried chicken recipe. The oil does have to be Kosher  and if following Sephardic Kosher, then use corm or peanut oil.

African American Jews can celebrate Passover with a co mingling of traditional Black and Jewish foods. It all ties in with enslavement and liberation. Both have suffered and shared that suffering with symbolic foods.