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Charoset is a sweet, dark-colored mixture of finely chopped fruits and nuts eaten at the Passover Seder. According to the Talmud, its color and texture are meant to recall mortar (or mud used to make adobe bricks), which the Israelites used during their slavery in Ancient Egypt, as mentioned in Tractate Pesahim 116a of the Talmud. The word comes from the Hebrew word for clay ().
Charoset is one of the symbolic foods on the Passover Seder plate. After reciting the blessings, and eating first maror dipped in charoset and then a matzah "Hillel sandwich" (with two matzot) combining charoset and maror, people often eat the remainder spread on matzah.
The spices used vary among cultures; Yemenites use cloves and pepper, while American Jews typically use cinnamon. In Italy, Venetian Jews have been known to add chestnuts and pine nuts. Halek is a variation made by Persian Jews using dates instead of apples. Locally grown blueberries are added to the traditional recipe in Maine.
Egyptian Jews make it from dates, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, and sweet wine.
Greek and Turkish Jews use apples, dates, chopped almonds, and wine. Italian Jews add chestnuts.
Suriname Jews add coconut.
Iraqi Jews make it from a mixture of dates and nuts.
Moroccan Jews use a mixture consisting of walnuts, almonds, dates, figs, Dried apricot, pitted prunes, and sweet red Passover wine, with optional additions such as shelled pistachios or ground cinnamon. The ingredients are blended or ground together and shaped into one-inch balls.
Parts of the Jewish Diaspora in Iran have a tradition of including 40 different ingredients in the halegh. The number 40 signifies the 40 years of wandering in the desert.
Yemenite tradition
Yihye Bashiri (17th century) described the manner in which the charoset was made in Yemen: They take figs or raisins or dates, and pound them into the consistency of dough. They then put vinegar thereto, and add spices. Some there are who put ground sesame seeds into this admixture. On the night of the Passover, a person is required to put therein whole spices that have not been ground; either two or three seeds of valerian (Arabic: sunbul), or sprigs of marjoram alternatively: (Arabic: za'tar), or savory (Arabic: hasha), or things similar to them, so that it will resemble straw in mortar—in remembrance of that thing by which our fathers were enslaved in Egypt, seeing that it is like unto bricks and straw.Yosef Hubara (ed.), Sefer Ha-Tiklāl ( Tiklāl Qadmonim), Jerusalem 1964
In Yemenite Jewish tradition, the charoset is also called dukeh (), a name also referred to as such in the Jerusalem Talmud.cf. Leiden Manuscript of the Jerusalem Talmud, on Pesahim 10:3. The text there says, with a play on words: “The members of Isse's household would say in the name of Isse: Why is it called dūkeh? It is because she pounds (Heb. dakhah) the with him.”
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[[Mizrahi|Mizrahi Jews traditions
Not all Jews use the term charoset. Some of the Jews of the Middle East instead use the term " halegh". The origin of halegh is not clear. Rav Saadia Gaon uses the word and attributes it to a kind of walnut that was a mandatory ingredient in the preparation of the halegh.
Ashkenazi traditions
(or Ashkenazi) charoset is made from chopped walnuts and , spiced with cinnamon and sweet red wine. Honey or sugar may be added as a sweetener and binder. The mixture is not cooked.
Modern variations
In 2015 Ben & Jerry's Charoset ice cream became widely available in Israel and was covered in several major news outlets.
Leftovers
Leftover charoset is commonly eaten with matzah, but it can also be used as a filling for hand pies.
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