Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Where To REALLY Get Kosher For Passover Desserts in Chicago

Our seder table from a few years ago.
We are hosting a Passover seder on Friday night.  For those of you not in the know.  It's a special dinner/service that Jewish people host in their homes, with a lot of rituals, to celebrate the start of Passover and to commemorate our liberation from Egypt a long long long long time ago.  (This is the Moses story, folks)

When we lived in New York, there were lots of bakeries that made amazing Kosher for Passover Desserts.  During Passover, you are not allowed to eat anything that rises (no dough, nothing with yeast in it) so it can be hard to do dessert.  People are clever, and there are some great non-rising cakes. You had to order early, they were very expensive, but when you bring an amazing dessert for 20 people that's Kosher for Passover, you are a literally a hero.

In Chicago, I have been struggling with where to find a Kosher For Passover bakery.

 I found (what I thought was) a great article by Cbs Local titled "Best Bakeries in Chicago for Passover Desserts"  It's dated March 18, 2015.  The article lists 5 places-- 3 in Chicago, 1 in Skokie, 1 in Northbrook to get Passover Desserts.

Plagues have never been more delicious.  Photo courtesy  of Zelda's.
I called all 3 in Chicago.  They all seem like fine places, except NONE of them make Kosher For Passover desserts. In fact, one of them isn't Kosher at all!  None of them knew they were in the article.

This is an example of non-researched journalism.  No offense to the author, but if you are writing about products that people carry, you should at least check that they carry them.

UPDATE:  Looks like this is endemic: There was an article in the Tribune saying that Magnolia bakery was selling Passover goods.  I called them.  They sell flourless stuff, but not KFP.  I would call this Passover-inspired!

I asked people where I could go. The woman from Tel Aviv Bakery (which is Kosher, but closes for Passover) suggested the Kosher Jewel.  She said that nobody in Chicago makes their own bakery stuff.  They fly it in from Israel or New York.


The Kosher Jewel on Howard & McCormick in Evanston
As it turns out, the article did have two places right:  Leonard's in North Brook and Zelda's in Skokie both do make Kosher for Passover desserts.  In fact (although they look sold out) Zelda's makes these really cool - Chocolate & Marshmallow Frogs and Locusts.


I haven't been to the Kosher Jewel yet (at Howard and McCormick in Evanston) but I understand that their Kosher For Passover section is enormous, and includes desserts. (my wife was there on Sunday)

In addition, the Hungarian Kosher Market in Skokie also has a Passover lineup, which may or may not include desserts (their website mentions they used to make cakes for Passover, but doesn't say they do it now)   More importantly, their website says they are at capacity and are not taking any more orders.

So, the moral of this story is:  Don't believe everything you read on CBS.  And do your own research.


Happy Passover, everyone!

1 comment:

Larry said...

The joke my wife and I always make about Passover food - including cakes is would you eat it after the holiday ends? Generally, the answer is no cause no matter how good it might be when choice is limited it doesn't stand up to the 'regular' stuff.
So, if you find something and the answer is yes the search is worth it.