Preparing Egg Salad on Shabbat

It's Shabbat morning and your son-in-law, who loves egg salad, is joining your family for the meal, together with his wife and children. The table is set and you take the hard-boiled eggs out of the refrigerator. Then you stop to try to remember how it's done...

Ideally, egg salad should be prepared before Shabbat. If you didn't manage it, one has to keep in mind three things: shelling the eggs; mashing; and flavoring.

Shelling the eggs:

One may shell hard-boiled eggs on Shabbat, but only right before the meal.

Mashing the eggs:

Eggs may be mashed on Shabbat, even with a fork (unlike food that grows from the ground, which may only be mashed in certain circumstances and in certain ways). One may not use a special utensil designed for mashing.

Flavoring the salad:

Kneading is one of the forbidden melachot (forms of creative work) of Shabbat. Mixing mayonnaise or oil together with mashed eggs results in a paste and therefore one must alter the process on Shabbat.

For Ashkenazim - You need to change the order in which you add ingredients. That is, instead of adding oil or mayonnaise to the eggs, first place the oil or mayonnaise in the dish and then add the eggs to it.

You should also alter the manner in which you mix the egg salad, such as by using a criss-cross stroke rather than a circular motion.

For Sephardim - According to the letter of the law, there is no need to change the order in which you add the ingredients. You should, however, change the way in which you mix the ingredients, for example by using a criss-cross stroke. Those who are stringent and first place the oil or mayonnaise in the dish and only then add the eggs are deserving of extra blessing.

In summary –

* Eggs should be shelled right before the meal.

* Eggs should be mashed with a fork and not with a special utensil.

* Mixing for Sephardim - one may add the ingredients in the ordinary manner (although it is preferable to be stringent). The ingredients should be mixed using a criss-cross stroke.

* And for Ashkenazim - the oil or mayonnaise should be placed in the dish first, and the eggs added. The ingredients should be mixed using a criss-cross stroke.