What on earth do we do for Passover? Does gluten-free matzoh exist? How do you make gefilte fish without matzoh meal?And we're not supposed to eat rice during passover....

Do we just poison ourselves for 8 days a year?

Here are some recipes...

http://www.gluten free.com/passover_recipes.htm

I'm not Jewish, but as a Catholic who faces the "wheat or holiness" debacle, I can sympathize.

I found this:

GLUTEN FREE MATZOH BALLS
4 eggs
3 Tablespoons chicken fat/ margarine
1 tsp salt
1/4 teasponn xantham gum (I omitted)
1 cup instant potato flakes
4 tablespoons chicken stock

Beat eggs and fat, add salt and gum to potatoes and add to the eggs. Add stock, mix well and chill for 20-30 minutes. Wet hands and form into balls; drop onto plate and steam covered for 20 minutes. (or cook in simmering soup for 20 minutes)

NOTES: Here is the "matzah free" matzah balls recipe. It came from the gluten free pantry recipe sheet, but I tinkered a bit when I made it because I wasn't sure if xantham gum is KLP or not (I omitted it). I tried making this with 1/2 ground almonds and 1/2 potato and they turned out ok. I found that I needed to add alot more potato and almonds to make it stiffer, so fiddle around with the quantities. I was also doing the fat free thing last year and tried with just egg whites it wasn't as good. I also added in some soda water (I think you call it club/ seltzer soda) instead of chicken stock and this made then a bit lighter.

From: Debbie Kerry (Debbie.Kerry@dia.govt.nz)


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As far as making the matzoh in flatbread form (I always loved those, result of after school daycare at the JCC ) maybe you could flatten the above dough to cracker flattness and bake them. I don't know if it would work, but it'd be worth a shot, right?

A friend of mine told me there is G/F matzoh. It's a friend who's friend also has celiac and she was going to get the brand for me. When I find out the brand I will let you know.

Oooh... I'm gonna try those gluten-free matzoh balls. It's a comfort food I miss terribly!

gluten-free matzoh would be the next best treat!!!

never tried it, nor am i jewish or religious, but isn't the purpose of the matzo meal in gefilte just to hold the meat together for cooking, like breadcrumbs are to hamburger meat? i can't see any other reason for the matzo meal after reading through the recipe in front of me. if that's the reason, you could substitute rice cake powder for the matzo...just buy some rice cakes and throw them into your blender and blend until fine. that's what i use for my burgers, and they hold together just fine. that's what i'd be trying at least

--matt

I found this website to order gluten-free matzah.
http://www.gezuntheit.net/

I eat Kedem brand Gefitle fish. It does not have matzah meal and is pretty good!

My mother and sister are both Jewish and keep my parents' house kosher for passover. My sister's also on a gluten-free diet, and I know they picked up a bunch of stuff for passover. I believe Jennie's macaroons are gluten-free. Rokeach has gefilte fish that states "gluten free" on it. I think there's gluten-free matzoh as well but can't recall the brand right now.

according to CSA receipe

Need: Long pan and parchment paper

1 cup gluten-free Pantry French Bread Mix
4 tablespoons water
1 egg


Mix all ingredients in mixer on high until dough forms a balll. Makes two large sheets.
Roll half of dough between two sheets of parchment paper dusted with more bread mix until thin. Repeat for second half of dough.

Cut into squares and prick with a fork to make it look like matzah and to keep from rising.

On a pan covered with parchment paper, bake squares at 440 degrees for 18 minutes.

There is a gluten free matza but it is not readily available and is very expensive -- $26-29 a box. I ordered it for my grandson on www.kosher.com They also have a gluten free matza meal which is $15 per box. Expensive but for my grandson I had to do it. However that site is not offering Passover foods any more. You might want to try it next year. Also, Lieber's makes a matzo ball mix that is gluten free.

I was just going to post that I found a gluten free matzoh but see others have found it.

I've certainly splurged for gluten free foods before but I draw the line at paying $30 for matzoh.
So I was thinking well how am I going to eat my chorset. I look forward to that every year. And then I realized, OMG I'm retarded. Plain rice crackers ofcourse! I mean with the sweetness of the chorset you barely taste the cracker or matzoh anyway. Now I just have to make sure the Manischewitz wine is ok that they use to make it.

Jillian, you're a genius! I don't know why I didn't think of rice crackers. I love rice crackers, especially the ones in the Asian grocery stores.

You saved my Passover! I was all ready to screw up 3 months of being gluten-free, just for matzoh.

Thanks!!! The most simple solution ever and it took me forever to think of it!

I hear ya though, of all the things to consider throwing in the towel for I was thinking the same thing. How sad!! LOL!

for those interseted in mansichewitz wine, this is their response...

Thank you for taking the time to contact us and express your opinions about
Manischewitz wines. We appreciate hearing from you!

We do not test our products for gluten. However, to our knowledge, they do
not contain it. Where one's health is of a concern, we always recommend
that you consult with your physician.

I hope the information we have provided is helpful. We appreciate your
interest in Manischewitz wines and hope we can look forward to serving you
as a valued customer.

If I may be of any assistance in the future, please feel free to contact me
at 1-888-293-7071 Ext. 15670.

Sincerely,
Helen Z. Van Buren
Consumer Relations Representative
Manischewitz Vineyards

Reference # 189075

Wine? There's gluten in wine nowadays?

I made the above recipe and it came out pretty good! DD really liked it. I also made the matzah balls with Barbara's potato flakes and the first time I made them I made large balls and they came out great - they even froze well. DD liked them so much she ate all 8 before Passover and I had to make more. Unfortunately, I figured I would be clever and make the batch last longer so I made them smaller - and they fell apart while simmering. She was so thrilled to have them in her chicken soup, I'm going to make more and freeze them.

Info on gluten-free matzohs can be found at the folllowing web site: http://www.glutenfreeoatmatzos.com.

Note on the site there is a list of U.S. distributors in major metropolitan areas. I purchased a box from the Philadelphia contact for $21/box. This also saves on shipping, which likely would turn the matzoh into farfel!

I have two extra boxes of Lieber's gluten-free matzoh ball mix left over from Passover. If interested, please email me for cost and shipping info at savett[at]yahoo.com.

Mike

I'm confused... rice crackers do sound like a good substitute, but didn't Fiddle Faddle say we can't eat rice during Passover?

I'm not Jewish, but I was wondering the same thing. How can rice crackers etc. save Passover if you are not supposed to eat rice during Passover?

I am not Jewish, but my Husband is. Matzoh is not just a food, it is an integral part of the Passover Seder. Here is a web page that gives a good description of what is Kosher for Passover. http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabb...soverkosher.htm Some key points:

- The Torah instructs a Jew not to eat (or even possess) chometz all seven days of Passover (Exodus 13:3). "Chometz" is defined as any of the five grains (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye) that came into contact with water for more than 18 minutes.

- There is another category of food called kitniyot. It includes rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Ashkenazi Jews avoid these on passover. Kitniyot products can appear like chometz products. For example, it can be hard to distinguish between rice flour (kitniyot) and wheat flour (chometz). Therefore, to prevent confusion, all kitniyot was prohibited.

So, if one is Ashkenazi (that's what my Husband is), a lengthier list of foods must be avoided at Passover. A rice cracker would not work for them, but it might work for someone who is not Ashkenazi.

My Husband does not practice, so I might not have gotten all the details precisely right, but that's the 50,000 mile view of it.

As far as I understand it, Ashkanazim do not eat rice (or corn or legumes) but Sefardim do. We're a schizophrenic lot!

See this link:

http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabb...soverkosher.htm

Lisa

Manischewitz macaroons are gluten free. They say so right on the box. I have another recipe for Matzoh balls that are fantastic - we are totally in love with them. There is gluten free matzoh - it's made in Israel from gluten free oats - I don't remember the brand - we ate it last year without any problems - it's enormously expensive but I didn't seen an alternative - it's about $38. for a small box. We've made the Gluten Free Pantry french bread mix into matzoh - it's ok but not the same.