Last September, my wife and I went to Citi Field for a Mets game because they were playing her favorite team, the Seattle Mariners. It turned out to be Jewish Heritage Day at the stadium, leading to the most entertaining ceremonial first pitch I’ve ever seen.
Matisyahu, the very tall reggae rapper, was welcomed to the mound to throw out the first…matzo ball. Accompanying him were his children and his catcher Ezra Miller (his friend and “The Flash” actor). He took a sip from the soup before taking the ball in hand.
I had to ask Matisyahu about all of this during our interview tied to the release of his new “Hold The Fire” EP and last Saturday’s show at Brooklyn Steel.
I was surprised to learn that he did not procure the matzo ball from a deli or restaurant. “We actually made the matzo ball,” he said. “We made it in my kitchen and then we practiced on my block, in the street, throwing the matzo ball and seeing if it would stay together or if it would explode, if it would come apart in the air.” He tweaked the recipe a few times to make the ball the proper density.
“The one thing that we didn’t take into consideration was that when we were practicing, we were just using the dry matzo ball, and at the game we pulled the matzo ball out of the container of soup, so it was wet and the matzo ball just slipped right out of my hand.”
And it exploded.
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Matisyahu also performed on top of one of the dugouts during the game.
You can read all of our interview here, and keep an ear out for his new single “Ascent,” out this Friday.
Photo and video courtesy of Matisyahu
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