Ingredients
Method
- Prep. Finely chop the walnuts, then mix them with raisins, ginger, cin, salt, honey, and wine in a bowl. Stir until the honey dissolves.
- Peel the apple. Cut it into quarters and remove the core and stems. Chop into bits about the size of a pea and mix them in. Taste and add more of anything you wish.
- Serve. If possible, age for a few hours or overnight so the raisins can soak up some of the wine. Serve on matzoh or as a side dish.
Notes
About the apples. Go for crisp, tart, crunchy apples like Braeburn, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, or Sweet Delicious.
About the wine. In the US it is traditional to use sweet Concord wine. If you can't bring yourself to buy sweet Concord wine, I recommend a ruby port or a young grapey Beaujolais with another tablespoon of honey. If you wish, you can even substitute non-alcoholic grape juice. Interestingly, if you tell American Jews that the Concord is native to North America and it is never used in Israel or Europe, they are shocked and will usually not believe you.
About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is about half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.
Optional mix-ins. There are slight differences in the charoses around the world where the locals take advantage of local ingredients. Some recipes use chopped dates, chopped dried apricots, chopped almonds, pine nuts, orange zest, hazelnuts, and lemon juice.