Matzah brei

Matzah brei , sometimes spelled matzah brie, matzoh brei, or matzo brei, is a dish of Ashkenazi Jewish origin made from matzah fried with eggs. It is commonly eaten as a breakfast food during the Jewish holiday of Passover. It can be prepared either sweet or savory. The Yiddish term מצה ברײַ matse bray literally means 'matzah porridge'; ברײַ bray 'porridge' is descended from a Middle High German word brī of the same meaning. Gil Marks in his Encyclopedia of Jewish Food asserts that matzah brei as a fried matzah-and-egg dish originated in North America. He notes the publication of a recipe for "Fried Matzos", consisting of soaked whole matzah fried in butter or schmaltz, in The Jewish Manual (London, 1846). However, egg-based recipes began to be published in early Jewish-American cookbooks, including Aunt Babette's (1889 edition) and The Settlement Cook Book (1901). These early recipes called for whole matzahs or large, broken pieces of matzah to be dipped in beaten egg and then fried. Marks credits the development of matzah brei – in which crumbled pieces of matzah and beaten egg are combined before frying – to the influence of Eastern European Jewish immigrants to the United States. Marks adds that the introduction of machine-made matzah produced "a slightly thicker and flakier matzah than that made by hand", and is the ideal type of matzah to use for this dish.

Source: Wikipedia