It may come as a surprise, but Italy has a long tradition of Jewish cookery. Jews have been living in Rome since ancient times. Jewish communities have long existed in other cities, perhaps most famously Venice, and even in small towns like Pitigliano in Tuscany, known as “the Little Jerusalem”. These communities produced a rich culinary tradition exemplified in many dishes still enjoyed today, including the world-famous carciofi alla giudia (Jewish Fried Artichokes). <www.memoriediangelina.com>

Charoset, one of the six symbolic foods included in a Passover seder plate, isn’t as famous but it’s well worth getting to know.  Foodblogger Alessandra Rovati from Dinner in Venice explains:

,  is one of the symbolic foods that we eat during our Passover seder: its name comes from the Hebrew word cheres (חרס), which means “clay.” Charoset is a dense fruit paste that represents the mortar used by the ancient Hebrew slaves in Egypt to make bricks. Because Passover celebrates freedom, a small amount of charoset is placed on the seder plate as a reminder that we were once slaves and we should not take our freedom for granted.>