For Vermont localvores who celebrate Passover, finding lamb shanks and bitter herbs is a breeze. Stocking up on unleavened bread could be trickier.
Until now. Julie Sperling and Doug Freilich of Naga Bakehouse in Middletown Springs recently invented Vermatzah, a round, handmade, wood-fired alternative to the mass-produced Manischewitz matzohs you find in the supermarket. As a bonus, each box comes with a small bag of wheat seeds so eaters can, in theory, start growing their own.
But is Vermatzah kosher? Technically, no: Sperling and Freilich haven’t gone through the multistep certification process, which involves rabbinical supervision and the payment of an annual fee. Naga’s packaging explains: “Vermatzah is eco-kosher, connecting modern ecology with ancient dietary laws and ethical standards about food production, preparation and eating.”
Boxes of the wheat-y treat are available at Naga and at a handful of area markets, but only until the end of Passover.
In a world where starvation kills approximately 30,000 people each day, not everyone would turn down Nutraloaf, a finger food composed in part of whole-wheat bread, beans, spinach and tomato paste. But the wholesome yet unappetizing concoction may no longer be served to Vermont prison inmates without a disciplinary hearing.
Last week, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that a Nutraloaf diet, sometimes given to inmates who fling feces at staffers, is effectively “a punishment” and hence subject to due process.
The decision came from a 3-2 majority.
This article appears in Mar 18-24, 2009.
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