Matzo! Matzoh! Matzah!

No matter how your spell it - Matzah is the quintessential Passover food.

Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, is the eight-day holiday commemorating the Jews' escape from slavery in Egypt. During the holiday, only unleavened bread may be eaten. That means no pasta, cereal, bread, cakes, cookies or any other starch product made with yeast or other rising agent.

In the place of leavened bread, Pesach observers enjoy matzah, unleavened bread made purely from flour and water. During the eight days of Passover, matzah is used in sandwiches, schmeared with cream cheese, baked into pizza and even pan fried in butter for matzahbrie, a Pesach-friendly substitute for French toast.

Why unleavened bread?

Referred to as lechem oni, or the bread of affliction, matzah symbolizes the minimalist fare that was eaten by Egyptian slaves.

The matzah also represents the actual food taken by the Jews when they fled from bondage. The Jews had to leave so quickly that they didn't have time to rise their dough. "Why do we eat this matzah?" asks the Hagaddah, the compilation of stories, prayers and songs recited during the seder (ritual meal). It answers, simply: "Because the Holy One redeemed our forefathers from Egypt before their dough could rise."

In their haste, the Jews were forced to focus on the bare essentials. On both a literal and a spiritual level, matzah embodies this concentrated, singular focus.

While matzah is called the bread of slavery (lechem oni), it is actually the bread of freedom: The freedom that comes from learning what you really need in order to enjoy the things you want.