Description and subtleties of making matzo flour. Calorie content, effect on the body, restrictions on use. Cooking recipes, product history.
Matzah flour or matsemel is a food product made from crushed matzo - thin unleavened flat cakes, a dish of national Jewish or Israeli cuisine. The texture for industrial grinding is powdery, for home grinding it is heterogeneous, the presence of particles resembling flakes is allowed; color - white, yellowish, with dark blotches; smell - usual, flour, without rancidity. Used to prepare kosher meals.
How is matzo flour made?
The initial raw material for grinding is matzo - unleavened flat cakes. The product is made in compliance with not only culinary but also religious recommendations. The dough is kneaded only from special whole grain flour made from grain stored in special conditions - without access to moisture.
For the preparation of matzo flour in industrial conditions, several processes are used: crushing, grinding and grinding. At the last stage, multiple sifting is carried out. Only the original product with a brittle structure, made according to the classic recipe, is used: the dough is kneaded in water, without salt and any other additional ingredients. If eggs and salt are in the composition, tortillas are not suitable for grinding.
How to make matzo flour yourself:
- Matzah is broken into pieces by hand, the smaller the better.
- Poured into a bag - plastic or made of cotton or linen fabric. The latter is preferable.
- Grind into small pieces with a wooden hammer designed for beating meat.
- If there is a hand screw mill, the process can be skipped. In the case when a blender or coffee grinder is used for grinding, it will not be possible to obtain a homogeneous structure. The finer the grind, the easier it will be to use later.
- Sift the flour several times, removing larger particles and grinding them again. To make matzo flour, like a powder, tender and light, it is best to use a mortar. It was in this way that matzo was ground initially.
Grinding home unleavened cakes is problematic. Even if you follow all the cooking recommendations, the layers turn out to be thick and heavy. This is explained by the baking method - in a conventional oven. It is difficult to achieve the desired thickness (up to 0.3 cm) and crispy structure without convection. Therefore, if you want to cook a dish from the national Jewish cuisine, it is better to purchase unleavened flat cakes made in a production environment.
