**"All the sugar should keep it from spoiling." **
Jerusalem, April 18 - Pre-Passover cleaning in the Mizrahi household has led to the discovery of a deep-fried pastry prepared in December that experts believe can still be safely consumed, family sources disclosed today.
Meir, 55, the father of the family of nine, while cleaning for the upcoming holiday, found the gently-used glazed donut hiding behind a stack of papers in the closet of his home office, where he occasionally places snacks to keep them away from the prying eyes and hands of the children, grandchildren, and his wife Yael. The single bite mark in the pastry reminded Mr. Mizrahi of the circumstances that resulted in it ending up in that location during Hanukkah four months ago.
"I'm glad I made sure to be the one to clean in here," he acknowledged, turning the donut over in his hands to examine it. "It looks okay to me. What do you think?" Mizrahi gave the donut another sniff, and shrugged.
"All the sugar should keep it from spoiling," he explained. "I'm not worried about hygiene here. Obviously, if there were a problem, you'd see mold all over it. The issue for me is the texture. Is it too stale? There's still some softness to the outside. It's probably fine."
Earlier, Mizrahi found a package of chocolate-covered cookies in a different hiding place. "That was a close one," he admitted. "It was close because, obviously, you're not supposed to have chametz in your possession during Passover, but also because it was somewhere that everyone here has access to. Someone else might have found it instead. I put it there for me. So I'm glad I was cleaning."
The Biblical commandment to remove leavened grain products from one's home for Passover, and not benefit from them, let alone eat them, has long prompted a thorough cleaning regimen in Jewish households. "Leavened" in Jewish law refers not to the activity of yeast per se - the ancients knew nothing of microorganisms - but a mixture of any of five specific grains with liquid that was not baked within a short time after combining. Since most grains are exposed to water during processing, special supervision and certification have become necessary to ensure that various food products do not contain, and have not been processed with, anything derived from wheat, barley, oats, rye, or spelt, and if so, then only under Passover-compliant conditions.
"Come to think of it," remarked Mizrahi, taking a bite of the donut, "my wife might have hidden the chocolate-covered biscuits there. Ah well, her loss."
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