Streit's Matzos

[weinoo]

Earlier this week, johnder, donbert (who took these photos) and I were walking on the lower east side, when we passed Suffolk and Rivington Streets. At that intersection sits the famous Streit's Matzo Factory, still cranking out matzos by the, well, ton, since 1925.

The cool thing about Streit's is that you can peek right into the oven discharge room, as the windows are open when they're baking (because it's about 1000 degrees in there ).

So we did...

Now, the matzos come out of the oven fast - I mean, like, hundreds a minute on a conveyer belt - it reminds me of the infamous I Love Lucy episode with the chocolate candy assembly line - only these guys can move some matzos. The first guy takes the matzos, places them into stacks that will fit into the box, and moves them to the cooling rack - which is in constant motion and is on the far right in the above photo.

I started asking the guys for some matzos and we got a much better view - you can see the sheets of matzo coming out of the oven in the photo below, which is taken from inside the factory. The guy with the headphones is the stacker.

In addition to our brief tour, we each were rewarded with a still hot from the oven, world-famous Streit's matzo - real NYC street food, as you can see from this photo.

Now, I don't know how many people have tried matzos, or like matzos. Or put up with matzos. I mean, like you eat them because you have to on Passover. There are all sorts of flavors of matzos now, not like when I was a kid, when you had two choices: plain or egg. These were plain. Not everything, not salt, not sun-dried tomato, nothing - plain.

A hot from the oven matzo stays hot for about one minute on a chilly night. And it's good for about one minute - I mean, without butter, cream cheese, salt, etc. it's basically a bad cracker. The bread of affliction. Enjoyed and then discarded. Perfect for a minute, and only in NY, kids.

[CaliPoutine]

Very cool!!

I love matza and I even eat it outside of passover.... I really prefer the whole wheat, it adds just a bit more taste to the regular old matza.

[Pan]

Mitch, I think the shmura matzos that the Chassidim make in Brooklyn are a lot better than "bad crackers." What do you think of those?

[weinoo]

Mitch, I think the shmura matzos that the Chassidim make in Brooklyn are a lot better than "bad crackers." What do you think of those?

←

Interesting - I haven't tried those specifically, so I'll keep an eye out for them. Aren't they also like 5 times as expensive as Streit's and Manischewitz?

[Fat Guy]

See I think the shmura matzohs taste terrible. I actually think that's by design. That the in large part the objection to supermarket matzohs is that they aren't truly unleavened bread -- that they're more like Carr's Table Water crackers and are relatively pleasant to eat. That to have the truly virtuous experience of suffering like the Hebrew nation on the run in the desert, you have to eat these awful-tasting shmura matzohs that sit in your gut like lead pellets. That only the elderly and infirm get dispensation to eat the supermarket kind.

[raji]

I thought our goal is to next year be eating supermarket matzohs in Israel?

[weinoo]

That only the elderly and infirm get dispensation to eat the supermarket kind.

←

Hey, who are you calling elderly and/or infirm?

[Pam R]

See I think the shmura matzohs taste terrible. I actually think that's by design.

Strangely, a lot of people like the shmura. It's got more of a burnt . . I mean toasted flavour.

Streit's spelt is my favourite.

Mitch, great story. All you needed was a glass of Manischewitz to wash it down and you would have been set.

Do they always offer people pieces of matzoh or were you just lucky?

[Pan]

See I think the shmura matzohs taste terrible. I actually think that's by design.

Strangely, a lot of people like the shmura. It's got more of a burnt . . I mean toasted flavour.[...]

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Exactly. And yes, they're more expensive than Streit's and Manischewitz.

[CaliPoutine]

Has anyone ever made Matzah at home?

[weinoo]

Mitch, great story. All you needed was a glass of Manischewitz to wash it down and you would have been set.

Do they always offer people pieces of matzoh or were you just lucky?

←

Thanks. They don't really offer people matzos, but when you're looking in the window and annoying them, they may come out with a sample or to shoo you away .

They have their retail operation on the corner as well, open weekdays, where one might more easily find a sample.

[weinoo]

Has anyone ever made Matzah at home?

←

Never tried it - I'm too busy trying to get a really good sourdough loaf over here.

[menton1]

Has anyone ever made Matzah at home?

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Probably like trying to make half sour pickles at home; fuggedaboudit!!! Just leave it to the pros...

[johnder]

Mitch, great story. All you needed was a glass of Manischewitz to wash it down and you would have been set.

Do they always offer people pieces of matzoh or were you just lucky?

←

Thanks. They don't really offer people matzos, but when you're looking in the window and annoying them, they may come out with a sample or to shoo you away .

They have their retail operation on the corner as well, open weekdays, where one might more easily find a sample.

←

They probably figure you can't bug them if you mouth is full of dried matzos.

[Pam R]

Has anyone ever made Matzah at home?

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Not 'kosher' matzah, but a big square cracker, yes.

[Pam R]

They probably figure you can't bug them if you mouth is full of dried matzos.

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Other than it being dry, how did you like it?

Is fresh and hot better then out of the box? I would imagine it is .. but at the same time, I'm not sure it matters when you're talking about matzoh.

[johnder]

They probably figure you can't bug them if you mouth is full of dried matzos.

←

Other than it being dry, how did you like it?

Is fresh and hot better then out of the box? I would imagine it is .. but at the same time, I'm not sure it matters when you're talking about matzoh.

←

it was pretty amazing right out of the oven, but as Mitch said, a little salt would go a long way.

It cooled off in about 45 seconds, so the appeal of a hot matzos wore off pretty quickly.

That said -- it was a great living in nyc moment.

John

[markabauman]

One of my sisters works for some very observant people in NYC and they always give her a box of shmura matzoh before Passover. A number of years ago, she re-gifted them to me. I was very excited at the idea of something a little more artisanal, but I have to agree with FG that they tasted awful. Now each year, either they are re-gifted to me, or one of the local Chabad rabbis drop some of to me. They lovingly adorn the seder table and are meaningful, but for consumption, the good old store-bought mass production kind are just fine.

[weinoo]

I'm really glad we got to experience this last month, as there appears to be some news concerning Streit's building, to wit:

Three weeks ago, 148-154 Rivington Street—the home of Streit's since 1925—was put on the market by Massey Knakal for $25 million. The matzo business itself is moving, and the 104' x 100' lot is free to be converted or (ack!) torn down by whatever developer is lucky enough to snag it.

The full, sad report, from Curbed.com, may be read here.

[Pam R]

Wow. Good timing. Manischewitz moved out of their Jersey City factory this year too. They moved to a renovated Rokeach matzo factory in Newark - and there was a 'matzo shortage' during the move.

I guess these factories have been around for so long, they're all seeing the need to upgrade. I hope there will be a window in the new factory that you can knock on and get a sheet right out of the oven.

[friedclams]

See I think the shmura matzohs taste terrible. I actually think that's by design. That the in large part the objection to supermarket matzohs is that they aren't truly unleavened bread -- that they're more like Carr's Table Water crackers and are relatively pleasant to eat. That to have the truly virtuous experience of suffering like the Hebrew nation on the run in the desert, you have to eat these awful-tasting shmura matzohs that sit in your gut like lead pellets. That only the elderly and infirm get dispensation to eat the supermarket kind.

←

I suggest the following reference be read to understand the making of schmura matzoh and its meaning.

Schmura Matzoh

[Sneakeater]

I can't help but wonder whether the article about Streit's in today's Times City Section was tipped off by thread.

[weinoo]

I can't help but wonder whether the article about Streit's in today's Times City Section was tipped off by thread.

←

I was thinking the same thing, sneakeater, although it has been covered in/by a number of others (e.g. Jewish Week, curbed.com)...I think what really set the info flurry off was the tipoff that the building had been placed on the market.

We also get a nice clue, in the article, from one of the bakers as to which matzo he likes best:

He also handles the inquiries from passers-by who want to know what kind of matzo he is baking that day: white, whole wheat and so on. In Mr. Negron’s expert opinion, “The egg-and-onion matzo tastes best.”

Too bad all we got was the plain .

[donbert]

I can't help but wonder whether the article about Streit's in today's Times City Section was tipped off by thread.

I was thinking the same thing, sneakeater, although it has been covered in/by a number of others (e.g. Jewish Week, curbed.com)...I think what really set the info flurry off was the tipoff that the building had been placed on the market.

...

Looks like Gourmet is getting in on the action too. They have the best quote:

Yo, there be some bangin' chicks lookin' up in here.

[weinoo]

Also from the Gourmet article quoted above by donbert:

The matzo rolled out of the conveyor oven in sheets, twice as wide as a man's torso. The men worked in rhythm with the machines, chatting occasionally in Spanish and snapping the sheets into neat piles, stacking them on moving racks that cycled through the room suspended in mid-air until they disappeared into the back of the factory.

Which is not exactly what I wrote in the OP...

Now, the matzos come out of the oven fast - I mean, like, hundreds a minute on a conveyer belt - it reminds me of the infamous I Love Lucy episode with the chocolate candy assembly line - only these guys can move some matzos. The first guy takes the matzos, places them into stacks that will fit into the box, and moves them to the cooling rack - which is in constant motion and is on the far right in the above photo.

I started asking the guys for some matzos and we got a much better view - you can see the sheets of matzo coming out of the oven in the photo below, which is taken from inside the factory. The guy with the headphones is the stacker.

Ahhh, poetic license...