Image by Courtesy of Chef Brulée

In a small shop in Roswell, Georgia, not far from Atlanta, Russian immigrant Natalya Shapiro paints matzo with stunning chocolate.

As a small child in Belaya Tserkov, in Ukraine, she used to visit her grandparents often. Her grandfather was a baker, and her grandmother baked matzo throughout the year, storing it in a special bag in the closet. Topped with a drizzle of chocolate or some homemade jam, it accompanied evening tea.

Building on her family’s pastry heritage, Shapiro and her husband, Art, started baking cakes and fondant in their Atlanta home in the evenings and on weekends. Then they decided to try chocolate, graduating to more sophisticated equipment. Their friends kept encouraging them to open a shop; that led to Chef Brulée, a chocolate shop and bakery. With her grandmother in mind, Natalya decided to try coating matzo in brightly colored chocolate, making it available for Passover.

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Finally, this Pesach Natalya’s painted matzo can be ordered online for overnight shipping. She coats King David brand matzo with kosher, fair-trade Belgian chocolate (Callebaut or Felchin).

Now we are able to both decorate our table and satisfy our sweet tooth, all with just a piece of matzo.

Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz speaks about chocolate and Jews around the world. Her book, “On the Chocolate Trail: A Delicious Adventure Connecting Jews, Religions, History, Travel, Rituals and Recipes to the Magic of Cacao,” (Jewish Lights) is in its third printing. The book is used in adult study, classroom settings, book clubs and chocolate tastings. She is Co-Curator for the Temple Emanu-El Bernard Museum exhibit of “Jews on the Chocolate Trail” to be mounted in the fall of 2017. She blogs at the Huff Po, On the Chocolate Trail and elsewhere.

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