[Avodah] ta'am of eating matza

[saul mashbaum]

Not fully on topic, but related to the subject of chametz and matza:
I find it surprising and counterintuitive that the Lechem Hapanim  in the mikdash (always referred to by the Torah, chzal,and the rishomim as "lechem") is matza. The Rambam in Hilchot T'midim U'Musafin 5:6 says briefly tht the lechem hapanim is made "challot matzot". The Minchat Chinuch mitzva 97 ot 8 says explicitly that  the lechem hapanim is "matzot velo chametz". I have so far been unable to locate the source for this; the  nosei kelim of the Rambam do not cite any source, and the Frankel Rambam mafteach does not cite anything on this. I couldn't  find this in the 2 sugyot of lechem hapanim in Menachot 75 and 95. Since the lechem hapanim is not a korban,  the mizbeach having  no part of it, I don't think that the issur of chametz in menachot (except for shtei halechem and lachmei toda) is the reason that the lechem hapanim is matza.
The lechem hapanim was baked in a mold, and could be bent/folded. This is to me a clear indication that "matza" as chazal understood it was like the soft, Sfardi matzot of today, not the hard Ashkenazi type. 
Saul Mashbaum
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