MATZO
(מ) וגם צדה לא עשו להם. לַדֶּרֶךְ. מַגִּיד שִׁבְחָן שֶׁל יִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁלֹּא אָמְרוּ הֵיאַךְ נֵצֵא לַמִּדְבָּר בְּלֹא צֵדָה? אֶלָּא הֶאֱמִינוּ וְהָלְכוּ; הוּא שֶׁמְּפוֹרָשׁ בְּקַבָּלָה, "זָכַרְתִּי לָךְ חֶסֶד נְעוּרַיִךְ אַהֲבַת כְּלוּלוֹתָיִךְ לֶכְתֵּךְ אַחֲרַי בַּמִּדְבָּר בְּאֶרֶץ לֹא זְרוּעָה" (ירמיהו ב'), מַה שָּׂכָר מְפוֹרָשׁ אַחֲרָיו? "קֹדֶשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל לַה' וְגוֹ'":
NEITHER HAD THEY MADE FOR THEMSELVES ANY PROVISION for the journey. This is stated to praise Israel: that they did not say, “How can we go forth into the wilderness without provisions?” But they had faith and set forth. This it is that is referred to more explicitly in the prophets: (Jeremiah 2:1) “I remember for you the affection of your youth, your betrothing love, how you went after me in the wilderness in a land that was not sown”. What reward is afterwards set forth there? “Israel is holy to Hashem.” (Mekhilta).
(3) You shall not eat anything leavened with it; for seven days thereafter you shall eat unleavened bread, bread of distress—for you departed from the land of Egypt hurriedly—so that you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt as long as you live. (4) For seven days no leaven shall be found with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh of what you slaughter on the evening of the first day shall be left until morning.
(8) After eating unleavened bread six days, you shall hold a solemn gathering for the LORD your God on the seventh day: you shall do no work.
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: According to the Sages, leavening occurs in the time it takes a person to walk the distance from Migdal Nunaya to Tiberias, which is a mil, two thousand cubits.
(ה) אֵין עוֹשִׂין בְּפֶסַח פַּת עָבָה טֶפַח.
One should not make bread (matzah) on Passover that is thicker than a tefach (between 3.5 and 4 inches), for thin (matzot) are not as quick to rise.
אָמַר רָבָא: בָּלַע מַצָּה — יָצָא, בָּלַע מָרוֹר — לֹא יָצָא.
Rava said: If one swallowed matza without chewing he has fulfilled his obligation. If one swallowed bitter herbs without chewing, he has not fulfilled his obligation.
MARROR
(ו) וְאֵלּוּ יְרָקוֹת שֶׁאָדָם יוֹצֵא בָהֶן יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ בְּפֶסַח, בַּחֲזֶרֶת וּבְעֻלָשִׁין וּבְתַמְכָא וּבְחַרְחֲבִינָה וּבְמָרוֹר. יוֹצְאִין בָּהֶן בֵּין לַחִין בֵּין יְבֵשִׁין, אֲבָל לֹא כְבוּשִׁין וְלֹא שְׁלוּקִין וְלֹא מְבֻשָּׁלִין.
(6) These are the vegetables with which a person fulfills their [maror] obligation on Pesach: with chazeret (romaine lettuce), with ulshin(endive), with tamcha (horseradish), with charchavina (parsnip), and with maror (dandelion); we may fulfill our obligation with them whether they are fresh or dried, but not if they are pickled, boiled, or cooked.
(ה) רבן גמליאל היה אומר: כל שלא אמר שלשה דברים אלו בפסח, לא יצא ידי חובתו, ואלו הן: פסח, מצה, ומרור. פסח - על שום שפסח המקום על בתי אבותינו במצרים. מצה - על שום שנגאלו אבותינו ממצרים. מרור - על שום שמררו המצרים את חיי אבותינו במצרים. בכל דור ודור חיב אדם לראות את עצמו כאלו הוא יצא ממצרים, שנאמר (שמות יג) והגדת לבנך ביום ההוא לאמר, בעבור זה עשה ה' לי בצאתי ממצרים. לפיכך אנחנו חיבין להודות, להלל, לשבח, לפאר, לרומם, להדר, לברך, לעלה ולקלס למי שעשה לאבותינו ולנו את כל הנסים האלו, הוציאנו מעבדות לחרות, מיגון לשמחה, ומאבל ליום טוב, ומאפלה לאור גדול, ומשעבוד לגאלה. ונאמר לפניו הללויה.
(5) Rabban Gamliel used to say: Whoever does not mentioned these three things on Passover does not discharge his duty, and these are they: the Passover-offering, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. [The] Passover-offering [is offered] because the Omnipresent One passed over the houses of our ancestors in Egypt. Unleavened bread [is eaten] because our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt. [The] bitter herb is [eaten] because the Egyptians embittered the lives of our ancestors in Egypt. In every generation a person must regard himself as though he personally had gone out of Egypt, as it is said: “And you shall tell your son in that day, saying: ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’” Therefore it is our duty to thank, praise, laud, glorify, exalt, honor, bless, extol, and adore Him Who performed all these miracles for our ancestors and us; He brought us forth from bondage into freedom, from sorrow into joy, from mourning into festivity, from darkness into great light, and from servitude into redemption. Therefore let us say before Him, Hallelujah!
CHAROSET
One must submerge [the chazeret] in the ḥaroset, due to the bitterness and poison in the lettuce.
The Gemara rejects this contention: Actually, I will say to you: According to the halakha, one need not submerge the lettuce in ḥaroset and the poison dies. The poison is nullified from the smell of the ḥaroset.
And Rav Pappa said: A person should not leave bitter herbs in the ḥaroset for a lengthy period of time, lest the sweetness of the spices in the ḥaroset nullify its bitterness. And the bitter herbs require a bitter taste, and they are not bitter when marinated in ḥaroset.
One must prepare it tart and one must prepare it thick- In the Yerushalmi it also says that it is supposed to be a remembrance of the blood, and therefore we call the act "dipping" like we call it with a liquid. This is a matter that the people follow, adding wine and vinegar at the time of eating to make the consistency more liquidy. I have found additional positions in the Gaonim which say that charoset should be made of the fruits that greeted the Israelites when they came into the land of Israel, as the Song of Songs mentions apples, pomegranate, fig, dates, nuts and almonds.
שולחן ארוך הרב:תעג:לב
החרוסת צריך להיות עב לפי שהוא זכר לטיט שנשתעבדו בו אבותינו ואח"כ צריך לרבך אותן במשקה זכר לדם ויש לרכבו במשקה אדום כגון חומץ או יין אדומים ויש לעשות החרוסת מפירות שנמשלו בהם כנסת ישראל תחת התפוח עוררתיך. כפלח הרמון רקתך. התאנה חנטה פגיה. אמרתי אעלה בתמר. אגוז אל גנת אגוז ירדתי. ושקדים על שם ששקד הקב"ה על הקץ לעשות. ומעיקר הדין יכול לעשותו אפילו מירקות ולרכבו אפילו במים ושאר משקין אבל עכ"פ צריך ליתן בתוכו דבר שיש בו קיוהא כגון תפוחים או יין וחומץ זכר לשיעבוד שהיו משתעבדים בישראל עד שהיו שיניהם קיהות
לג- וצריך ליתן בתוכו תבלין הדומין לתבן כגון קנמון וזנגביל שאינן נדוכין הדק היטב ויש בהן לאחר הדיכה חוטין קשין וארוכין קצת כמו תבן זכר לתבן שהיו מגבלין בתוך הטיט
Shulchan Aruch Harav 373:32-33
Ideally the liquid you mix in should be red, like wine or vinegar. The charoset should be made of the fruits that greeted the Israelites when they came into the land of Israel: apples, pomegranates, figs, dates, nuts and almonds. From a pure legalistic sense you could make it instead from vegetables, and mix in water or any other liquid, but in any event you need to put in something which has tartness (קיוהא) , like apples, wine or vinegar as a remembrance of the slavery with which they subjected our ancestors until their teeth became blunt (קיהות)
33: You need to put spices into the charoset that look like straw, like cinnamon and ginger, which aren't chopped into tiny pieces and they have strong and long threads, which makes them look like straw, as a reminder of the straw which the Israelites had to put into the mortar.