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Seder Set

Jon suggested this project ages ago, and I’ve been mulling it over since then. With Passover coming up fast I figured I might as well see if I could do it. I’ve been saving my little cutoffs of olive from every platter I’ve made, and those cutoffs, along with a chunk of some spectacular olive that I got years ago from Andrew Jacobson, combined to make quite a nice set. For those of you who haven’t been to a Passover seder, it’s a ceremonial meal commemorating the Exodus from Egypt. There are certain foods that play a part in the ritual, six of which are generally grouped on the seder plate. Traditions vary widely, but the six most common are karpas (usually parsley), maror (horseradish), beitzah (egg), zeroah (shank bone, usually lamb, but in vegetarian households often a beet), charoset (apples, walnuts, honey and red wine) and chazeret (often romaine lettuce). Matzoh, salt water and wine are also part of the ceremony, and other foods such as matzoh-ball soup and gefilte fish are about as omnipresent as turkey at Thanksgiving. Some households also include an orange on the plate, to symbolize the inclusion of women, gays and lesbians into the tradition, and others include an olive, to symbolize hope for peace in the Middle East. And of course, arguing about what to include and what it should symbolize is an important part of the tradition as well.

Here’s the whole set spread out. The small bowls fit neatly onto the plate as well. Each small bowl is inscribed with the name of one of the ritual foods. The set is made of California-grown olive wood, and is finished with walnut oil. It’s completely washable.

Here you can see the small bowls in place on the platter. Plenty of space in the middle for the orange, olives, matzoh or dangly bits of parsley, romaine or the end of the shank bone.

The lettering is done with a pyrography tool, which heats the wood to produce varying degrees of darkness. There are folks doing some incredible artwork with pyrography. I’ve only just begun to explore the possibilities.

Another view of the whole set. This will be available soon at Sebastopol Gallery.

Each little bowl has a rolled rim and a nice step and cove at the foot.

The bottom of the platter.

The bottom of the whole set.

You never know what gifts the wood will give you. In this case, it was a little face peering down from the top right corner. Who might that be?