The elusive haroset recipe

I'm sure like many others, the haroset your mother made was always the best -- and never duplicated. It was very true in my mother's case and until this year, I think I'd only made it once. But this Pesach, my mother asked me to make it, so I had to step up to the plate. And, if I may be so bold as to say, I scored!

I had the old recipe book from the shul in Harare but in my usual style took to the internet to see what others do and pick and choose my way to the perfect combo of ingredients. Well, all the Sephardi recipes I found had all kinds of jazz in them that just wasn't right for me. Next was a call to mom to ask how she did it. Explanation provided, I mentally prepared myself for it. I don't think she was feeling too confident in me as I got a call the next day just to reiterate exactly what was what!

In the end, it was a combo of my mom's word and the wisdom of the shul cookbook combined that led to my haroset success.

The most awesome (and simple) Sephardi haroset on earth

• 4 apples, tart-ish
• 500 g dates (do yourself a giant favour and make sure they are pitted)
• 1 cup almond flour (or a mix of ground almonds and walnuts)
• 1/2 cup kosher wine (Manishewitz is my pick)
• splash of cider vinegar

Chop up the dates and put them in a bit of hot water for a few minutes until they are really soft and you can mush them up to a paste with a wooden spoon. Leave to cool a bit.

Peel the apples and then coarsely grate them. You don't want them to be too wet so if the apples are really moist, then just squeeze the juice out of them into another bowl (this will give you a little apple juice drink later!)

Put the grated apples, mashed dates, wine, and almond flour into a bowl and mix them until it's all nicely mixed together. Taste to see how sweet it is and if it's super sweet (which it's hard not for it to be), then add a splash of cider vinegar to cut the sweetness and give it some brightness.  
Refigerate. Done!