Bread in culture Abrahamic religions of Judaism and Christianity. During the Jewish festival of Passover, only unleavened bread is eaten, in commemoration of the flight from slavery in Egypt. The Israelites did not have enough time to allow their bread to rise, and so ate only unleavened bread matzo. In the Christian ritual of the Eucharist, bread is eaten as a sacrament either as a symbolic representation of the body of Christ or, as in the Catholic liturgy, as a real manifestation of the body of Christ. Specific aspects of the ritual itself, including the composition of the bread, vary from denomination to
Ancient Israelite cuisine red tinged leaves that became bitter as they matured. It was cultivated from around 800 BCE. Sweeter head-lettuce was only developed and introduced by the Romans. Bitter herbs eaten at the Passover sacrifice with the unleavened bread, matza, were known as "merorim". "Chazeret" is listed in the Mishna (Pesahim 2:6) as the preferred bitter herb for this Passover ritual, along with other bitter herbs, including chicory or endive ("ulshin"), horehound ("tamcha"), reichardia or eryngo ("charchavina") and wormwood ("maror"). Mushrooms, especially of the Boletus type, were gathered in many areas, particularly when plentiful after a major rainfall. The Talmud mentions mushrooms