Tag #116359 - Interview #78774 (Fania Brantsovskaya)

Mama usually cooked Jewish food on Pesach. She made sweet and sour stew, cookies made from the dough boiled in honey, tsimes [19] with carrots, beans, potatoes and prunes. She also made tsimes with lentils, grown in Lithuania. She also made imberlach with carrots and ginger, which I still cook every now and then. On Pesach mama made borscht with marinated beetroots. She also made jam with these beetroots and nuts. Mama also made a cake from matzahmuki [matzah flour] on Pesach. She also served medok, both Jewish and Lithuanian beverage with honey and hops. We celebrated Pesach, but didn't have the seder ceremony. We cleaned our house and bought gifts for the family. However, I cannot remember any Jewish traditions related to this holiday being observed in our family. Matzah was bought long before the holiday and kept in a basket. Mama made latkes and little pies from matzah flour stuffed with fried onions and jam. Mama also made boiled buckwheat with fried onions - this was a typical Jewish meal in Vilnius. On Chanukkah mama made potato pancakes. We didn't have a chanukkiyah.