This just in: there will be no Tam Tams on your table this Pesach.
You heard me right. Manichewitz recently announced that due to unforeseen delays at their “brand-new, state-of-the-art, computer-controlled” Newark plant, the company has been forced to cut back on several of their matzah products and will not be producing any Tam Tams at all this year. What’s next, a run on sugary fruit slices?
An article in the New Jersey Jewish News has the whole sad story. (Among other things, it features the horrified response of Andrew Halper, owner of Zayda’s Kosher Deli in South Orange.)
Say it aint so!
What troubles me more is that the Spelt Matzo, which I found last year, won’t be produced this Pesach. Spelt can usually be an alternative to people with a wheat allergy, and with all the wheat used during the holiday, it was good to have another choice. Great Britain has offered Oats Matzo but I’ve never seen it in stores where I shop.
Nooooooo!
It just won’t be the same…
Bobbie–The oat matzo are available through Hungarian Kosher in Skokie, but you generally have to call in an order about a month before Pesach so they’ll know how much to order. Some years they have extra on the shelf, some not. You can also find them in some of the online stores, but it varies from year to year as to which stores have them. They’re very expensive–$25 to $30 a box–and very fragile, but do provide a good alternative for people who can’t have wheat (many, if not most of whom can’t have spelt, either).