By EVA BEN DAVID
Those who prefer organic matzot for Pessah can find them in almost every brand this year. Adama has two varieties: whole wheat and spelt. The spelt matzot are NIS 29 for a 400-gr. package, and the whole wheat ones are NIS 23 for 400 gr.
Aviv matzot also has some healthier varieties, such as whole wheat, rye or bran (all NIS 21 for 400 gr.), and organic matzot (NIS 25 for 400 gr.). New from Aviv are the heart-shaped chocolate covered cookies in the Haggada cookies series; a 400-gr. jar is NIS 15.
English Cake has a wide variety of cakes and cookies that are kosher for Pessah and quite yummy. You can choose from several cheesecakes, such as with blueberries or tiramisu, a mousse cake or a cappuccino flavored cream cake (all NIS 48), pound cakes with coconut or coffee-chococcino flavor, among others (NIS 28), or festive platters with a variety of cookies and sweets (from NIS 48 a kilo). Also available are cakes and cookies without added sugar (from NIS 29).
Dr. Lek has ice-cream mousse cakes that will look beautiful on your holiday table, but that will probably quickly disappear from it too. The kosher-for-Pessah ice cream cakes are layered cakes of chocolate-French vanilla, vanilla hazelnut and caramel with whipped cream, hazelnut with white chocolate mousse, and a parve cake of passionfruit mousse topped with meringue. The price for a family-size cake is NIS 95.
The new Golan Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 is a good wine to drink with the holiday meal, or for example with a barbecue. This dry red wine tastes pleasant, and is reasonably priced. The price for a bottle is about NIS 49.
If you like the Müller yogurts with pieces of fruit, you can now enjoy the light version, which does not contain artificial sweeteners. The Müller light yogurts come in strawberry, peach-pineapple and forest fruits; they contain 0 percent fat. The price for a tub is NIS 4.49.
The new Mei Eden Easy is a bar that adds a new, classy touch to your kitchen, for Pessah or the summer. The bar easily fits on the countertop (or anywhere you like), and lets you have room-temperature mineral water at hand any time you like. You can switch the top panel for a different color, for a different look. The price for the Easy Bar is NIS 198, and the 11-liter or 18.9-liter water balloons that fit on top are NIS 18.50 or NIS 29.50 respectively; to order, dial *2929 or look on the Internet at www.meyeden.co.il/easy.
Kids will love the new Strauss ice creams on the market, and the little ones will be especially happy to see the cartoon character Dora the Explorer, who comes in a package with five mini-ice cream sticks in cola, apricot, lemon and strawberry. The price for the Dora mini-ice creams is NIS 6.70, or NIS 25.90 for a bigger package, also containing some stickers. Another new popsicle is the Longy (NIS 4.20), a long stick in strawberry, lemon, and pineapple; the new Gel-lick (NIS 3.50) combines jelly and ice cream, but the banana-flavored jelly was not judged to be tasty at all.
To make your roasting easier and less messy, Nikol has come up with plastic roasting bags that are suitable for the oven, as well as for the microwave. The bags will keep your chicken juicy; the price for 10 bags is NIS 10. The brand Cooky also has roasting bags suitable for oven and microwave, in regular size and in giant size. The price for 10 regular-sized bags or five giant-sized ones is NIS 13.69.