For hundreds of years, Passover Seder meals have looked remarkably similar in households across the world.
Alongside the matzah are symbolic foods including a flame-broiled egg, bitter lettuce and roasted shank bone as well as raw veggies and a cinnamon-scented fruity dip.
A typical Seder dinner menu begins with chicken-and-matzah-ball soup and a fish appetizer followed by poultry, lamb or beef and topped off by a cake made with multiple eggs for leavening.
Today, this picture is starting to look out of sync with animal-free dietary trends.
Flexitarians are the primary drivers of this shift, as well as vegans, vegetarians and “climavores” who are choosing foods with a lower ecological footprint, says Noga Sela Shalev, CEO of the Fresh Start FoodTech incubator in Kiryat Shmona founded in 2020 by the Israel Innovation Authority in partnership with Tnuva, Tempo, Finistere Ventures and OurCrowd.
“The appeal of plant-based options is due to a variety of reasons, including health, ethics, environmental sustainability and food allergies or intolerances,” adds Fresh Start CTO Tammy Meiron.
Israeli food-tech innovators are poised to play a significant role in updating the Seder plate in the near future.
Eggs are used for both symbolic and practical purposes at the Seder meal. In addition to ethical and health concerns, eggs leave consumers vulnerable to massive shortages and price hikes due to factors such as bird flu outbreaks.
Keep reading at israel21c.org.
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