Passover is coming. Last year, I wrote a story for the Daily News on Passover food memories. The story focused on Passover candy, those confections –jelly slices, for example– that you either love…or hate.

Sweet Passover Memories

At the Joyva candy company in Brooklyn, the intense aroma of melting chocolate and fruit flavoring hang over the factory floor.

Passover is in the air.

Joyva is the leading producer of chocolate-covered jelly rings and marshmallow twists, candy that is as much a part of the Passover seder as gefilte fish.

From the factory where huge kettles of molten marshmallow and jelly simmer, the company ships roughly 30,000 cases of candy nationwide in time for Passover (this year, April 12-20), said Sandy Wiener, great-grandson of the founder of the family-owned firm.

What’s the continuing appeal of confections our grandparents ate? “You have jelly rings and marshmallow rings for dessert,” explained Wiener mater-of-factly. “It’s become a tradition.”

And tradition fuels sales. For many Jews, the candy — including perennials like sugar-coated fruit slices, and chocolate- and caramel-covered almonds –evokes warm memories. “My favorites are the fruit slices, orange, yellow and green,” recalled playwright Charles Schulman, 40, who said the sweets “make me feel nostalgic for my childhood.”

Upper West Sider Susan Nierenberg fondly recalls licking the chocolate off jelly rings at seders int he ’60s, but she’s no fan of the fruit slices she dubbed “fruitcake for Jews.”

Passover candy is made all over: At Bartons, in Allentown, Pa., which has been producing kosher treats (no leavened grains) since 1938, the top seller is the Almond Kiss, in which two almonds are enveloped in a blanket of chocolate and caramel, said John Kernan, vice president of sales.

And the candy’s appeal hasn’t escaped the younger generation. Says Mia Simowitz, 16, who’ll be attending her aunt’s seder here: “The candy on Passover is extra good because it’s once a year and you’re always looking forward to special things.”

Where to buy the candy:

Economy Candy
108 Rivington St.
NY, NY
1 800 352 4544

Oh! NutsFlatbush, Borough Park, Cedarhurst and Monsey
1 877 464 6877

Zabar’s
2245 Broadway
NY, NY
212 787 2000

Related posts:

1. Calling All Halvah Lovers
2. Passover: An All Chocolate Seder
3. Upper West Side: Kosher Restaurant My Most Favorite Food Opens in Time for Passover