What did we originally use for bitter herbs for the Pesach seder?
There’s a list of five types of plants (in the Mishna) which are suitable for use as bitter herbs:
“Chazeret” – considered by most authorities to be the leafy variety of lettuce, known as romaine lettuce.Some authorities hold that the head variety (Lactuca sativa), known as crisp head or iceberg lettuce, may be used.
“Ulshin” – considered by some authorities to be endives or escarole
“Tamcha” – this is regular horse-radish (‘Chrain’ in Yiddish)
According to most authorities, the identity of the final two species in the list, “Charchavina” and “Marror”, is no longer known to us through tradition.
The order of preference follows the order in which the species were listed in the Mishna, making “Chazeret” the most preferred choice out of the five. What people used originally depended on the availability of the different species.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Ari Lobel