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> Original question: Does anybody know what the religious rules are in
keeping GF and cooking kosher for Passover? For example, can you still
bake GF bread/GF cakes? Fry GF pancakes?
Responses: --- You can bake using potato starch, ground nuts (almonds
and hazel nuts are great), coconut, lots of eggs. Sephardic Jews permit
rice and beans during Passover, I don't believe there are "rules"
against using those foods; it's traditional for Ashkenizi Jews not to
(include beans and rice). If you have or want to assume a Sephardic
background for Passover, you can widen your choices by using rice/bean
flour for baking too. Look for Oberlander's baked goods. They make a
great variety of cookies and cakes and, while it doesn't say gluten free
on the box, most of them are because they don't contain matzo meal.
--- I am not an expert, but I would assume that if you do not use
leavening, it's OK. I would previously make pancakes and cakes (a sponge
cake) for Passover, but without leavening. What I would do is use a
couple extra egg whites, beat very stiff and then fold in and cook right
away and things worked out well.
---
If you use Google to find the website for Manischewitz wine, they
have an item under one of the buttons explaining what substitutes their
products use to be "kosher for passover". I buy a lot of kosher for our
daughter because the standards are so strict about ingredients. The
Jewish man in the shop where I bought some stuff said that European Jews
(was that Sephardic?) like Germany, Russia etc. are stricter for
passover. They don't allow any grain in their products. So corn syrup is
out of the sweetened wines and sugar is in. Matzo meal is out of the
potato pancakes and potato starch is in. I think he said the Ashkenazi
Jews are less stringent.
---
I would consult your rabbi. I was trying to do some research on the
subject. The best information that I could find was after googling
"kosher for passover" there was some information put out by an Orthodox
association explaining that Ashkenazi jews avoid eating legumes and rice
as well as chometz. This is consistent with how I grew up so I won't be
eating any rice or corn based foods this holiday. I don't see why any
potato based product would be a problem, I even was able to buy potato
starch this year put out by Manischewitz. On the upside though many of
the Kosher product makers currently put out lots of gluten free foods
(though not labeled or necessarily safe from cross contamination) such
as potato kugels. Lastly, look for Shabtai products they are a baked
goods producer that has gluten free labeled products for Passover.
---
I have studied this extensively, and come to the conclusion that the
ashkenazic vs sephardic pesach customs are just that, customs, minhag.
If your family is agreeable, go ahead and continue cooking your usual
gluten free meals; if not, guess you're going to basically have a week
of being on Dr. Atkins - level 1. Personally, I add some special
sephardic dishes to my pesach cooking, just to make it special, since,
let's face it - we're kosher l'pesach all year round!
--- On one side, the Jewish religion says your health comes before
religious observances. On the other side, we can certainly do with wheat
and grains for a week without endangering our health. On one side,
Ashkenazic Jews say anything that swells in water is not acceptable for
Passover. On the other side, Sephardic Jews do accept rice and corn.One
thing is sure. Matzah is wheat. All matzah products are wheat. Well,
except for the imported, Israeli oat matzah. It's not that hard to live
on eggs, fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, and poultry, and dairy products
(if you're not lactose-intolerant) for a week. And there are tons of gf
& Kosher for Passover baked goods in the stores where Passover foods are
available.
---
Depends. This is one of those cases when CYLOR (consult your local
[Orthodox] rabbi) prevails. What I have found in my movement (Reform) is
that most of the rabbis say that kitniyot (beans and non-WROB) are fine,
and that anything non-WROB and rise-free (no yeast or baking powder,
e.g. rice cakes and corn tortillas) are fine. This is the time when I
haul out my nut cake and cookie recipes and make my own tortillas.
---
There's a site called www.kosherforpassover.com that gives a ton of
information, food sources, etc. Foods that are kosher for passover but
do not contain Matzah meal, matzah cake flour, or matzah in any other
form are also gluten-free. http://www.kashrut.com/Passover/pesachart/
---
1) As you know, Ashkenazim do not eat kitniyot while Sephardi do. It is
possible to take on the Sephardi minhag in this case (but only for those
who have celiac, not the rest of the family members). If you do, the
Pesadiche dishes are not "treifed" by contact with kitniyot. However, I
found that this step is not necessary. Finally, eating kitniyot does not
allow you to buy generic rice cakes (for example) as they must be
considered chometz because of possible contamination in the factory.
2) matza can *only* be made with one of the 5 grains that can become
chometz (namely wheat, barley, rye, spelt, or oats). If you can not
tolerate oats, then you can not make the bracha "al achilat matzah" or
the hamotzi at the seder. Otherwise, you will make a bracha levatala. We
have found (from many attempts) that oat matza makes lousy mataza brei,
homemake matza meal, etc.
3) Because of the impossibility of acquiring Pesadiche flours (other
than potato starch) unless you both eat kitniyot and grind them
yourself, you are pretty much limited to the classic non-grebrokhts
recipes. However, they aren't that bad and we've had good luck both with
some of the better store bought cakes as well as my wife's sponge cakes.
---
Thank you everybody for your very helpful responses! We'll follow the
Sephardic tradition, since one side of the family is Sephardic.
--Elaine
Portland, OR
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