CATEGORY

Matzo

2008 CHEFSBEST® AWARD FOR BEST TASTE WINNER

Manischewitz

What Makes a Great Matzo?

Playing a major role in Jewish Passover traditions, matzo crackers are used in a variety of ways—with dips, butter, fish, and soups. Wide, flat, and toasty, they can also be used to make matzo pizzas, nachos, and other creative dishes. Serve them with traditional entrées like salmon, chicken with mushroom, or brisket. Matzo crackers also make a great low fat snack all by themselves.

Our chefs define high-quality unsalted matzo crackers as being flat with a blistered texture (the blisters should be small, about one-eighth of an inch). Matzos should have a white to light golden beige color range with toasted sections along the edges, on the blisters and perhaps along the lines of perforation. The aroma intensity is expected to be minimal with a simple aroma character that features discernible toasted and sweet notes from the flour. There should be no aroma off notes, including packaging or processing notes.

Due to the absence of salt, unsalted matzo crackers are in taste balance when a low level sweetness is the only basic taste. This sweetness should come from the flour and toasted portions of the crackers, not from added sweeteners. Saltiness, sourness and bitterness should not be detected.

High-quality matzo crackers won't be intensely flavored, but what flavor they do have should be complex, including notes of grain and toastiness. As with the aroma, there should be no flavor off notes detracting from the experience.

Matzos are expected to be crisp like tortilla chips. The initial bite should be tender yet provide some resistance. Some adhesiveness, making chewed matzo stick to the teeth, upper palate and gums, is expected, but the dissolve should be relatively fast. When spread with butter, cream cheese or other condiments, the structural integrity should be high, meaning these crackers should not crumble or shatter easily. Matzo should hold up well with spreads and break evenly along its lines of perforation.

Product Category Definition

The category judged was defined as unsalted matzos for the consumer market, not including matzo meal or matzo balls.

For more information and recipe ideas, please visit the Manischewitz website.

Also Judged:

Streit’s