First beer after Passover

Passover had not ended more than one hour earlier when I had my first beer.  It was a . . .  Tuborg Red.

Like any hungry person eating something after a long fast, I thought it tasted just fine.

It happened while Trudy and I were attending our first big, public Maimouna celebration -- the post-Passover feast traditionally held by Jews from North Africa.  It was on Moshav Sde Nitzan in the western Negev near Gaza, where we had spent the last days of the holiday with our friends Frank and Maxene Perlmutter.

The Maimouna was hosted by a Moroccan family, members of the moshav, in their huge truck-loading facility. There were dozens of different kinds of the traditional Moroccan sweets and pastries, including mufleta served with butter and honey, fresh fruits, candy, liquor -- and beer.

Mufleta!

The beer being served was either Tuborg Red or Carlsberg, both made by Israel Beer Breweries Ltd. in Ashkelon.  Yes, authentic industrial beer, the kind that precipitated the craft beer revolution around the world.

But the Tuborg hit the spot after a beer-free week.  The crispness of the amber lager and the 5.2% alcohol went well with the super-sweet confections, cutting the sugary, honey tastes, actually making them more palatable.  

Some people like to drink a glass of water or seltzer when they eat ice cream. It dilutes the sweetness that builds up in your mouth.  Well, beer actually does it better (there are even those who enjoy a strong stout with ice cream), and an amber lager like Tuborg Red does it even better.  And with the Moroccan music blaring in the background, it was even better.

Oh well, only 49 more weeks to go until next Passover.  How many beers does that hold?

Tirb'chu v'Tisadu!