Gluten-Free Items for Passover

With Passover beginning next week, Tuesday, March 30, grocery stores are getting stocked with matzo and other traditional Passover food items. Unfortunately, most of these items are full of wheat and of no use on a gluten-free diet.  Technically, according to Jewish law, one must eat matzo on the first night of Passover, and real matzo must contain wheat, barley, rye, spelt, or oats, which has to do with the method of cooking and amount of time needed for the matzo to rise.  By Jewish law matzo must be made in under 18 minutes from the time it is started to the time of the finished product, being that it is forbidden to eat any grain that is leavened.

I even read from one source that if wheat-filled matzo doesn’t cause us “too much discomfort” one should be eating it in observance of Passover, which is obviously not a safe solution for observant celiacs.  Thankfully, there are some companies that keep gluten-free eaters in mind and provide Passover items at this time of year. As with wheat-filled matzo, it is required that when using gluten-free oats they are supervised by a rabbi throughout the entire process to be sure the flour does not come in contact with water and start leavening and monitor the 18-minute regulation, which again is a requirement of Jewish law in order for it to be considered real matzo.  This, unfortunately, means that gluten-free matzo is not necessarily cheap.

Gluten-free oat matzo and matzo meal are also available by Gluten-Free Oat Matzos based in the UK and can be found worldwide, and provide a list of worldwide distributors. These are currently the only gluten-free matzo produced in a dedicated gluten-free facility.

Being from New York City, I have always loved matzo ball soup and was so thankful when I came across a gluten-free matzo ball soup mix by Paskesz a few weeks ago at the Gluten-Free Trading Company in Milwaukee.  This has always been one of my favorite soups.  Paskesz offers many kosher gluten-free foods that are available seasonally as well as year-round. Currently, the gluten-free Trading Company carries matzo ball soup mix, matzo crackers, chow mein noodles, bread crumbs, cereals, cupcakes, and more.  Products are available while supplies last and can be purchased by mail order from their website.

They may not be as cheap as wheat-filled matzo, but at least those who observe Passover can feel comfortable that they can participate with proper gluten-free matzo and other kosher holiday foods.