Matzah, the signature food of Passover, is the unleavened bread which Jews eat on Passover. Baked in under 18 minutes, matzah recalls the rush in which the Jews fled Egypt, when they did not have time to fully bake their bread, and were forced to eat unleavened bread.
The afikoman is the matzah that is broken at the seder and put away for desert, stemming from the notion of slaves, unsure of where their next meal will come from, saving half their food. The custom has developed that children try to steal the afikoman and barter it at the appropriate time in exchange for gifts.
Some people have the custom to use shmurah matzah, which has been supervised from the time the wheat was harvested to make sure it didn't come into contact with water.
