Passover indulgence: Decadent treats for the festive season

Believe us when we say, it's no easy feat. Sampling the latest products hitting Israeli markets (and sometimes beyond), tasting before anyone else, endless deliveries, stacks of paper bags accumulating in the office (and at home), an unrelenting sense of abundance.

Seriously, it's tougher than it looks, and no one's compensating you for missed gym sessions or the rapidly developing FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) in your soul.

Yet, the "New on the Shelf" section, with its dedicated tasters and loyal consumers, ventures forth once more, resolute and purposeful. And this time – baking, snacking, cooking, and decadence. Yes, we're quite eclectic.

Bon appétit!

Snacks, cookies, pasta, and baking mixes, Osem

The giant local food brand celebrates Passover, of course, with an almost imperceptible difference in offerings and shelves.

Here – on marketing networks, naturally – you'll find the popular Bamba Bomba, and rightfully so, its chips (classic in natural flavor and also Wavy), a special edition of Mexican-style Free Style by Bisli, and versions of its renowned hits, from Apropo to red Bamba, from Popco to Shtuchim.

Simultaneously, Osem announces a consumer "glove-raising," demanding more sweetness and variety, launching kosher for Passover cookies, gluten-free, in vanilla flavor, with a successful texture that requires a quick dip in coffee.

These news and announcements join the company's regular but festive collection, and the 2024 products making their debut. These range from baking mixes for cake and pancakes (requiring a few basic additions and providing a worthy substitute and then some), gluten-free pasta, thin rice noodles, and even soy sauce.

Ben & Jerry's

The popular ice cream brand is ready for the holiday with a wide, varied, and limit-free lineup, of course.

Ben & Jerry's Passover collection includes eight flavors - vanilla, chocolate, banana nut, chocolate nut, Very Berry Nice (cream ice cream with wild berries), Dulce de Leche (cream ice cream with caramel and fudge), and coffee. Price: NIS 24.90 per pint, NIS 10 per serving.

Simultaneously, the edition of the special Ben & Jerry's haroset ice cream returns, which started as a whim and completely secured its serious place on the dessert table, with a creamy base, real haroset, dates, and walnuts, as well as a cinnamon seasoning. Why not, indeed?

Solero Pineapple and Lelo, Strauss ice cream

The Israeli ice cream brand celebrates summer and Passover simultaneously, with a double, sweet, and calendar-adapted launch.

Starting with Lelo, the company's vegan ice cream series, which adds two new pints to its offering - rum and chocolate with almond pieces and a kosher for Passover version of vanilla and salted caramel with chocolate and sugared almond pieces - uncompromising and with plenty of inner texture playfulness.

Alongside these, a new member joins one of our favorite collections, in the form of Solero Pineapple and Vanilla ice cream, based on the familiar and successful combination of sherbet-ripple-coating, with a sweet-tart tropical touch and even a lovely "price" of 88 calories.

Gluten-free pasta and tomato sauce, Barilla

The days when gluten avoiders stormed the Passover shelves are long gone, and the collection of the popular Italian brand only emphasizes that - in variety, price, and taste.

Barilla's gluten-free pasta series includes spaghetti, fusilli, penne, and lasagna made from white and yellow corn flour, as well as gluten-free rice. They maintain their texture well (a known flaw of similar pastas from the past), succeed in providing the expected bite, and generally don’t compromise at all. Far from it.

Simultaneously, and as a very efficient complement, Barilla also launches its series of tomato sauces, also kosher for Passover.

The series includes four red variations - classic Pomodoro, a base for Bolognese that only requires added meat, Neapolitan with root vegetables, and excellent basil. Price: NIS 14.9-18.90 per 400-gram jar.

Camille Bloch, Tasa

The large candy group prepares for the holiday with a precise and scheduled chocolate drop of its excellent Swiss brand products.

The delegation includes, among other things, the Ragusa series based on milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or blond chocolate filled with whole hazelnuts pralines, and also the somewhat legendary Turin line, and rightfully so.

Simultaneously, the network also offers flexible kosher Passover packages (NIS 55-320) packaged by associations employing people with special needs.

The "Sea of Tasa" package (NIS 119), for example, includes Toffifee bonbonniere, Heidi Bocara cream nut flowers, Eppi Popsicles filled with white chocolate cream, Swiss Ragusa chocolate, Torino chocolate, Heidi Bocara caramelized nut chocolate, vanilla milk snack, and Heidi Bocara cappuccino chocolate snack. Consumer price: NIS 119.

LalQilla rice, Gershon spices

The veteran Israeli importer celebrates Passover with an exuberant expansion of shelves, in the form of 1-kilo home packages of the well-known Indian rice brand.

The rice, grown on the slopes of the Himalayas, is processed traditionally and provides deeper flavors than usual and familiar. So far, it has arrived in Israel in large 5-kilo sacks, and now the company introduces rice in the "Qilla Excel" variety, long and thin, aged for two years (NIS 13.80), "Majestic" airy and soft (NIS 12.60), "Supreme Sella" rice, which requires a shorter cooking time (NIS 11.80), and also "Super Healthy Food" full grain rice, slightly nutty in aroma, sold in jars (NIS 13.90).

Matzo Balls and Pasta Blend, Master Chef

The energetic food brand is preparing for the holiday with a sought-after kitchen shortcut and a sought-after launch.

It's a blend of quick-prep matzo balls, based on matzo meal, wheat flour, and spices - and without red dyes. The package (NIS 12.50) contains two separate bags to make about 30 matzo balls and requires the addition of two eggs and a little oil per bag, and cooking, of course. The promise - "matzo balls with the taste of old times" - is high but worthwhile.

Alongside, kosher for Passover bean pasta also comes, in a 300-gram package NIS (9.90), containing six separate "nests" - for even distribution of homemade cooking. The pasta, part of Master Chef's Asian series, is made in China, primarily relying on green bean starch, and fits excellently in a large salad bowl or as part of a rice paper roll, for example.

Horse Radish and Haroset, Olivia

Returning classics and innovative delights: The renowned Israeli food brand, Tnuva, gears up for Passover with a double comeback, joyfully and meticulously planned. Feast your taste buds on celebratory haroset and horse radishspreads free from preservatives and artificial colors.

The sweet haroset spread leans on a classic blend of dates, apples, red wine, and almonds. Meanwhile, the horse radish spread features prominent beets, complemented by vinegar, salt, spices, and of course, horse radish itself. These jars (210 grams, NIS 12.90-14.90) arrived before the holiday and surely didn’t survive the waiting period. One eagerly jumped into sandwiches and meals with a tad too much vigor, and the other, alas, met its fate as intended – spoonful by spoonful.

Mix for Cakes and Cookies: kemah haaretz

The excellent milling from Moshav Kokhav Michael celebrates the holiday with an outstanding Italian import in the form of a Passover-friendly mix for cakes and cookies – and more.

Hailing from the Molino mill in the north of Italy, this mix joins its parallel intended for pastries and bread – also Passover-friendly – and contains no gluten or sugar. It requires only the addition of liquids, yielding exceptionally airy results and a blessed Passover forgetfulness. Price: NIS 17-22 per 500-gram package.

Organic Infusions: Bara Tzmachim

The flavorful wellness brand, Bara Tzmachim, prepares for the holiday with special editions, kosher for Passover, of its excellent tea infusions.

The organic infusion series (NIS 35 per box) combines, among other things, red raspberry leaves and chamomile flowers, green tea, and herbal extracts that work to soothe, promote better sleep, combat colds, and even aid digestion. At least to us, they are always the go-to at the end of the day, certainly after an inevitable intimidating holiday meal.