Where to find everything you need for a Pennsylvania Passover seder
You can get matzah from New York and wine from California, but why not shop locally?
If you waited until the last minute to shop for Passover, don’t fret. We have you covered.
While, it might be easier to get everything for your Passover meals from a grocery store, if you’re looking to shop small and local, there are countless options from Pennsylvania farms, food producers, and markets.
Here’s where to find everything you need for your Passover seder.
Matzah
Matzah, the famous unleavened bread, is integral to all things Passover. Whether it’s Matzah pizza, Matzah brei, or chocolate-covered matzah, there are many ways to get creative with it. But, first, it’s important to start with some good matzah.
Essen Bakery, which calls itself “a little Jewish bakery in South Philly,” has homemade matzah, some plain and some with everything spice.
Matzah ball soup
Of all the items on your menu, this will likely be easiest to find. You can pick up a pint at nearly anyJewish deli any time of year. Here are a couple suggestions:
If you’re passing by Reading Terminal Market on your way to a seder on Friday, you can pick up a small or large order of matzah ball soup from Hershel’s East Side Deli.
The Famous 4th Street Deli has a matzah ball soup that restaurant critic Craig LaBan calls “epic.”
» READ MORE: How to build a better matzah ball
Horseradish
On Passover, we eat horseradish as a reminder of the bitterness our ancestors experienced while they were enslaved in Egypt.
To get a truly home-grown horseradish on your table this year, get a jar of Long’s Horseradish, handcrafted made in Lancaster County since 1902. The five generations of the Long family say they still make their horseradish by hand in small batches, “just like the old days.”
Gefilte fish
Gefilte fish can be a comically divisive food for many Jewish people — you either love it or hate it. We, personally, love the unique and briny fishiness.
You can’t go wrong getting gefilte fish from a tried-and-true deli like Hymie’s Merion Deli. (They also have a full Passover menu.)
Global supply chain issues have even hit the Passover seder. Bralow’s Fresh Fish & Seafood in Philadelphia used to sell gefilte fish, but stopped due to the rising price of carp.
Charoset
At House of Kosher Gourmet Market on Bustleton Avenue — which one local rabbi told us is like “stepping into a little Jerusalem” — you can buy charoset by the pound. Their take is a classic mash of walnuts, cinnamon, and apples.
And that will come in handy if you have anyone coming to your seder like us, who could eat an entire pound of charoset alone.
Shankbone
Kosher shankbones for your seder can be hard to find because they’re not carried at your standard grocery story, so we’re going to recommend House of Kosher once again. (For our Jersey readers, the Kosher Experience at two Cherry Hill Shoprites is another option.)
If you don’t mind whether your shankbone is certified kosher, you can buy a lamb shank from Primal Supply Meats, a woman-owned butchery that partners with local farmers.
Where to find other items for your Passover dinner
You’ll also need an egg for your seder plate. And sure, you may already have a dozen in your fridge from the grocery store. But this year, support a local farm like Alderfer Eggs, a fifth-generation family farm in Telford. You can find locations to buy their eggs on a map on their website.
Seder plates also traditionally have a green vegetable, often parsley. We recommend buying from a local farm near you. To find a full map of Pennsylvania farms, put together by the Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing & Research Program, click here.
We traditionally drink four glasses of wine during the Passover seder, so you’re going to need quite a few bottles for your dinner. Try wine from Binah Winery, a small, boutique winery in Allentown that sells certified-kosher wines. If you don’t need the wine to be kosher, Va La Vineyards in Avondale might be a good option.
Matzah ball soup may be the traditional Passover treat, but we can’t blame you for craving a good chicken noodle soup. Ben & Irv’s in Huntingdon Valley has you covered with a Passover-friendly noodle-less chicken soup. (And you can order matzah balls on the side, too.)
Or get a Passover kit
OK, we get it, you might not want to drive around and pick up Passover items individually. Here are some places are offering you a full meal kit.
High Street Philly has a Passover dinner that includes chicken liver mousse and matzah, spring vegetables, apricot-marcona almond couscous, charoset salad, and flourless chocolate cake. For your main dish, you choose between seared zalmon with za’atar and beet labneh or pomegranate-glazed lamb shank. The entire meal is $60 a person.
Panorama is offering a three-course dinner that starts with matzah ball soup, includes a main dish of beef short rib or salmon, and ends with your choice of dessert. The meal is $45 per person.
Fiore Fine Foods has a family-style Passover meal with matzah ball soup, charoset, gefilte fish, beet salad, potato kugel, brisket, and dessert. It’s $59 per person.
Steve Stein’s Famous Deli Restaurant also has an extensive Passover menu with both complete dinners featuring matzah ball soup, brisket, and kugel. The meal starts at $22.95 a person, but there’s an à la carte menu as well.