You may wonder at the different spelling here. My usual is Matzah, but as I’m sharing my husband’s grandmother’s recipe, it seems fitting.
Lottie Mailich came to England during the very last days of August of 1939. Lottie through her ingenuity and perseverance managed to find her own way to escape from one of the most dangerous of situations, only days before World War Two, and the Shoah. From her home in Berlin, she escaped to the Scottish Highlands and work as a cleaner in a Vicarage.
Having lost many family members during the Shoah, she rebuilt her life in Brighton with her husband Joseph Heimann, and her parents who survived by escaping to Shanghai.
We had been married only a month, when I spent my first Pesach ever away from my parents. My husband’s family sang different tunes and ate different foods and I was feeling totally out of place. But Grandma Lottie was kind and insisted that I try her Matzo Kloese, prepared just once a year for the Seder meal. Thinking they were similar to the very light and airy Matzah balls I had grown up with, I spent the better part of the meal chasing them around my dish, but once captured, I was hooked!
- 2 sheets matzo
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ a small onion, finally chopped
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon ground almond
- ½ cup matzo meal
- Soak the two sheets of matzo in cold water for a few minutes. Drain and squeeze dry.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan, fry the onions over medium heat until very soft and golden. Add the matzo and break up as you stir the matzo into the onions. Remove the mixture from pan into a bowl, and add the remaining ingredients, mixing well to form a soft dough. Place mixture in the fridge for at least an hour if not longer.
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, shape the mixture with damp hands into 1 inch balls, drop into boiling water and cook for about 15 minutes until the matzo kloese are cooked though.