quinoa for passover - 2009 update

 

I have started using quinoa a lot this past year – it’s a great way to liven up a dish – and its kosher for pesach! As the article from kashrut.com mentions, the ancient harvest brand does not need to be checked and I find its readily available in stores that carry quinoa. Its never to early to begin pesach planning!

 

Here is a link to ancient harvest’s site with some recipes

http://www.quinoa.net/

 

Here is a link to a Trader Joes site with some recipes – trader joe’s brand is made by Ancient Harvest and is also fine without checking

http://www.traderjoesfan.com/Articles/Articles/Quinoa:_The_Mother_Grain/

 

 

Quonfused about Quinoa

By Arlene Mathes-Scharf, Kashrut.com

Copyright © 2009 Kashrut.com

Quinoa has become a part of the Passover diet for many observant Jews since the Star-K published an article Quinoa, The Grain That's Not, in the Kashrus Kurrents for Pesach, 1997. In this article the Star-K explains that quinoa is not related to the five types of grain that can become chometz, nor it is related to millet or rice. It is a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium) related to the beet and spinach. (^{http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/quinoa.html}).

It is grown in the Andes mountains in locations that do not support growth of the five grains which can become chometz: wheat, rye, oats, barley and spelt.

Quinoa fills a diet hole for many people for Passover. These include people on gluten-free diets, vegetarians, and vegans. It is also a non-meat protein source for dairy-intolerant people. It has become so mainstream that Susie Fishbein has featured recipes using quinoa in her bestselling Passover cookbook that was published last year by Artscroll. Some of the companies that process quinoa do so in a chometz-free environment to enable the product to be consumed by people on a gluten-free or wheat -free diet.

The OU has written (at ^{http://oukosher.org/index.php/passover/article/7555})

“Quinoa is not one of the five grains that can create chametz (wheat, oat, barley, spelt and rye). Nonetheless, there is a difference of opinion among Rabbinic decisors (machloketh haposkim) as to whether quinoa is considered kitniyoth (Ashkenazic custom is not to eat kitniyoth on Pesach). We suggest asking your local Orthodox Rabbi if it is or is not kitniyot.”

The custom of not eating kitiniot evolves from the fact that it is similar to chometz grains.

The question is, is quinoa kitniot or not. Rabbi Blech in ^{Know thy Beans Kitniyos in the Modern World} quotes the following characteristics of kitniot that are listed by authorities: cooked grains which may be confused with chometz, grown in fields adjacent to chometz, and ground into flour and confused with chometz. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (in Igros Moshe O"Ch III:63) said that there is no Halachic basis to extend this to new foods. The ^{Chicago Rabbinical Council} accepts the use of quinoa that has not come in contact with chometz on the basis of this ruling. (See also ^{http://www.kashrut.com/Passover/Quinoa/}.)

The OU continues to say the following (at ^{http://oukosher.org/index.php/passover/article/7555})

“It should be noted that although Quinoa is not grown in the same vicinity as the five chometz grains mentioned above, the processing of Quinoa is often done at the same facility where they process wheat. Therefore, if you rely on the lenient opinion and treat quinoa as non-kitniyos, we suggest that you sift through the quinoa to make sure that there are no other grains mixed in.”

My research has determined that different manufacturers provide different conditions for the packing of quinoa. This year, the Ancient Harvest plant has been checked and determined that the product is processed in chometz-free environment. Ancient Harvest states on their website “As a grain, quinoa is gluten free. Our Ancient Harvest Quinoa is grown exclusively in the high Andean Altiplano regions of Bolivia. Our quinoa is grown at 12,000+ foot elevations in very arid conditions which will not support traditional gluten bearing grain production, therefore insuring us no possibility of potential field contamination with such grains. Our Traditional, Inca Red and Black whole grain quinoa is then cleaned, processed and packed in our quinoa-only organic and gluten free facilities.” (^{http://www.quinoa.net/11301.html}) Ancient Harvest quinoa flour is produced in a different plant. Ancient Harvest also produces the Trader Joes brand.

One of the other manufacturers, Arrowhead Mills packs their product on the same lines as they do flour, though on different days, after a clean up. This was confirmed by the OK who certifies this plant. The OK confirmed that Eden Foods quinoa, also under the OK, is usable for Passover, if checked before Passover.

“The Star-K tested quinoa to see if it would rise It did not, it decayed. The result was as Chazal termed, sirchon; the quinoa decayed - it did not rise.” (^{http://www.star-k.com/kashrus/kk-passover-quinoa.htm}.) The Star-K considers quinoa to be kosher for Pesach provided it is purchased from a company that does not process chometz and the quinoa is checked before Passover.

You should always follow the advice of your own rabbi. If using quinoa, consumers are urged to carefully check grains before Pesach for extraneous matter.

Quinoa should also be rinsed to remove a bitter saponin layer that is found on the outside of the quinoa.

This information is accurate for Passover 2009.

 

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where is shushan purim observed?

from the ou website

 

When is Purim Observed?

Purim is different from all other Jewish holidays in at least one very interesting aspect. Purim is observed in some places exclusively on the 14th of Adar and in others, exclusively on the 15th (Shushan Purim).

The observance of Purim was thus originally ordained by the Sages: "To observe these days of Purim in their times. 'In their times:' In the specific time of each."

The reason for the different dates designated for the observance of Purim is that the Jews of Shushan originally observed the festival on a different day than the Jews who lived elsewhere. Whereas Jews in Shushan waged war on both the 13th and the 14th of the month, and observed the 15th as a day of festivity and rejoicing, in all other provinces the Jews waged war on the 13th and observed only the 14th as a day of festivity and rejoicing.

Therefore our Sages chose to distinguish between Shushan and all other places in accordance with the original event.

Wishing however, to accord honor to the Land of Israel which then was desolate, they determined as follows: The capital city of Shushan, in which the miracle occurred enjoys special preeminence and the festival is to be observed there on the 15th. This is despite the fact that in the days of Yehoshua, under whose leadership the Jewish People first entered and conquered the Land of Israel, Shushan was not yet surrounded by a wall, and hence enjoyed only minor status as a city.

All other cities which were already settled and were surrounded by walls in the days of Yehoshua, are to be accorded the preeminence of Shushan - although they might presently lack surrounding walls and might be in a state of ruin - and they are to observe Purim the 15th. Cities which were not surrounded by walls in the days of Yehoshua though they may have surrounding walls presently - are not to be accorded the status of Shushan, and they are to observe the festival on the 14th.

What then is the criterion for judging the status of a city?

The condition of the city during the days of Yehoshua. That is to say, walled cities either found by Yehoshua in the Land of Israel, or built with walls in his time, are assured of eternal existence. Their present destruction is viewed as passing. Cities outside the Land of Israel - though they later acquired the status of walled cities - are not regarded as assured of permanent existence.

Therefore the Purim which is observed on the 14th is called 'Purim-of-the-open-cities;' (Purim De'Prazot) and the Purim observed on the 15th is named the 'Purim-of-the-walled-cities' (Purim De'Mukafot).

In our times, the only city besides Shushan in which Purim is observed the 15th of Adar is Jerusalem, "Yerushalayim."

In a number of other places, the Megillah is also read the 15th - but only because of doubt. In these communities, the essential observance of Purim is fixed for the 14th, and though the Reading of the Megillah is repeated in them the 15th as well, the required brachah which precedes the Megilah-Reading, is not recited.
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