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> David (Sue) Esterman writes:
> >
> > I am interested to know how other Jewish coeliacs manage over Passover -
> > this will be my first as a coeliac and while I am okay with the health
> > aspect, I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any mechanisms for
> > staying within the spirit of pesachdige cooking and still coping.

Mitchell writes:
> Passover is a pain in the neck for celiacs.  I find it too difficult
> to stay within the pesachdige spirit.  One problem is that matza
> crumbs get everywhere and in everything on the table.

I haven't had that problem.  Of course, there are 3 at our seder who are
wheat free.  We all sit at one end of one table, and use our spouses to
buffer us from flying matzah crumbs ;-)

> Another is that
> kosher products that are usually gluten free, like soup bases, end up
> with matza meal in them when they become kosher for passover.  Perhaps
> the biggest problem is that other people think passover is great for
> celiacs since nobody eats bread.

That's funny.  The Carmel soup bases that I stock up on during Pesach are
only gluten-free in the Passover versions - for Pesach, they use potato
starch instead of matzo meal.  I also stock up on baked goods, since
there is a bakery in NYC that shuts down in early March (or thereabouts),
kashers the place for Pesach, and then proceeds to run baked goods made
with potato starch instead of flour (and *no* matza meal).  The market
that I shop at "imports" them for the holidays (I'm in Los Angeles).

> My suggestion is to not change your diet during Passover and to have a
> stash of rice and rice products close to your seat at the seder.  If
> you are looking for a pesachdige justification for this menu, tell
> people that Iraqi Jews eat rice during passover.

Actually, *all* Sephardi Jews eat rice and corn during Pesach.  I use the
justification "pikuach nefesh" (saving a life), and usually switch to
potato-base stuff if we're having the very religious around.  Howsomever,
"pikuach nefesh" is something that *no* observant Jew will argue with,
and is a much better "excuse" (my doctor said ... is something that no
Observant Jew will argue with, much anyway ;-)

Hol-Grain makes a brown rice cracker that is indistinguishable (in "look
and feel") from regular matzah, except for its size, and provides the
perfect vehicle for conveying that charoset to your mouth.

*Be careful that whoever made the charoset didn't put matzah meal in it*

Those of us who are wheat free get our gefilte fish from the unopened jar
of Meal Mart brand to make sure it doesn't get mixed up with everyone else's.

Have the maker of the chicken soup cook the matzah balls separately, and
add them to the soup as it is served (with a *separate* spoon!), or make two
pots.

Offer to bring a potato kugel, made with potato starch, and skip the
matzo kugel.  Better yet, con the hostess into serving tsimmes or baked
potatoes or baked sweet potatoes.

Double check the desserts- skip those made with cake meal or matzo meal.
Have some fresh or dried fruit, or see if you can find gluten-free candies,
chocolates, macaroons, or some of the potato-starch based baked goods
(look for the ones from Gruenebaum's Bakeries in NYC).

Happy and healthy Pesach

karen

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Karen Davis of Davis and Associates (818)892-8555
           "Pain is Mother Nature's way of telling us to slow down;
                       Death is her way of INSISTING!"