Passover is sufficiently vague to most people who aren't Jewish. Something about bread. Something about the Red Sea. Something about Charlton Heston.

But Passover is possibly the most eagerly awaited of the Jewish holidays every year: a gathering of friends and family around the table to retell the story of the Exodus, the Jewish flight from slavery to freedom. It's recounted at the Seder dinner, told in a prescribed order (Seder means "order"), according to a book called the Haggadah.

This is the holiday that evokes the most visceral memories of family tradition.

Marcy Schreiber, who owns the East Side Kosher Deli (499 S. Elm St., 303-322-9862) with her husband, Michael, thought about going east to have Passover with her daughter this year. But she says that would preclude using the dishes from their grandparents.

"I said to my daughter, 'How would it be Passover without the green dishes?' "

Food is an integral part of the holiday, beginning with a Seder plate, which contains the symbolic foods, and matzo, the unleavened bread.

Here's a primer on some of the Jewish food traditions associated with the holiday, with contributions from Schreiber, aish.com and The Passover Table (Susan R. Friedland, Harper Perennial). As for Charlton Heston, he may not be Jewish, but he made such a convincing Moses in The Ten Commandments that most Jewish people would be hard-pressed to picture the Jewish leader any other way.

The Seder plate

Charoset a mixture of fruits, nuts, and wine

The chunky spread represents the mortar used to build the Pharaoh's pyramids.

Chazeret a bitter vegetable

Bitter foods represent the bitterness of enslavement. Seder plates with only five dishes include just one bitter food (see maror, below); those who use a six-dish plate traditionally include lettuce, such as Romaine or endive.

Baytzah a roasted egg

The First Temple in Jerusalem was built by King Solomon in Jerusalem and became a center of Jewish worship. The Babylonians destroyed it. The Second Temple was rebuilt 70 years later, only to be destroyed by the Romans. During the days of the First Temple, two offerings were brought there on the eve of Passover. One was a piece of roasted meat, represented here by a roasted egg. The egg traditionally represents mourning in Judaism, serving as a reminder of the Temple's destruction, but it's also a symbol of the continuity of life.

Zeroah a roasted lamb shank

The other offering was the Pascal Lamb, which was roasted and eaten as part of the meal and is now represented by the lamb shank.

Karpas anything that comes from the earth

Usually parsley or celery but sometimes a potato, it represents spring and the continuity of life. During the Seder, the karpas is dipped in salt water to signify the tears of the slaves.

Maror a bitter herb

Like the chazeret, it represents the bitterness of enslavement. Horseradish is a popular option.

Matzo: the unleavened bread

When the Pharaoh refused to let the Jewish people leave Egypt, God sent 10 plagues to change his mind, including the most lethal, the death of the first-born. To protect against this, Moses told the Jews to mark their doors with the blood of a lamb so that the Angel of Death would "pass over" their houses. When the Pharaoh finally relented, the Jews had to leave in a hurry - lest he change his mind again - and they didn't have time for their bread to rise. During the holiday, the Torah prohibits eating any food that might rise (or swell) unless specially handled: oats, barley, spelt, wheat or rye. Matzo is made of flour and water and must be started and finished within 18 minutes to prevent rising.