Words on Fire

A collaboration with Josh Silverman. Exhibited in "PEOPLE OF THE BOOK: THE POWER OF WORDS" at the Perkins Gallery, the Striar Jewish Community Center, Stoughton, MA

The artist statment:

SELBSTGEMACHTE MATZE (Homemade Matzoh)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup wholewheat flour

1/2 cup text torn from Praktisches Kochbuch (Practical Cookbook)* spring water

Preheat oven to 450 F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix together two flours and text and add water until you have a soft, kneadable dough. Knead about five minutes. Let dough rest a couple of minutes. Break off egg-sized portions of dough. Stretch as thinly as you can before rolling into thin, oval slabs. Trim slabs into a comfortable book size with a pizza cutter. Prick each slab with a fork or pastry docker. Place on baking sheet and as soon as sheet is filled with matzot, place in oven, and bake until crisp and buckled, about 3 minutes.

Cool, and do not eat.

* by Henriette Davidis-Holle, Velhagen und Klasing, 1916, Bielefeld, Germany

(This recipe is adapted from A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking by Marcy Goldman.)