Time Baked In

The only ingredient that changes regular flour and water into matza is time: the baking must take less than eighteen minutes or the mixture is assumed to have risen and cannot be eaten for Passover. Matza then is not just a symbol or a reminder of the haste with which we left for freedom but an embodiment of having to act quickly. Like time saved in a bottle, matza is urgency baked into bread.


haggadah Section: Motzi-Matzah