Kosher Markets — For Passover And Beyond
There is a great article that discusses Passover from a food allergy perspective and gives useful reminders for shopping for Passover food. The article, What does Kosher for Passover mean for food allergies?, is posted on the Kids With Food Allergies website.
I want to comment on two items the author raises.
1. The author rightly points out that Jews from different parts of the world follow different food restrictions during Passover.
Ashkenazi Jews (the Jews of Eastern Europe, France, Germany and their descendents) follow a more stringent set of restrictions than Sephardic Jews (the Jews of Spain, Portugal, North Africa, the Middle East and their descendents). In addition to avoiding wheat (except as baked into Matzah), barley, spelt, oats and rye, Ashkenazi Jews also do not eat corn, soybeans, legumes, rice, millet or other grains during Passover. Some communities also prohibit the consumption of dry peas, caraway, fennel seed, mustard, garlic and peanuts – as well as derivatives of any of the forbidden items (such as soybean oil or flavors made from grain alcohol).
Like most American Jewish families, mine is Ashkenazi. But I think I’m going to ask for a waiver to switch teams. For those of us with food allergic children, it seems unfathomable and borderline cruel to add additional food restrictions to our children’s diets for the eight days of Passover. If I am forced to eliminate from my daughter’s diet rice, soy, and corn and legumes –in addition to the foods to which she’s allergic– there is very little that she can eat. Also, in order to meet my daughter’s calcium requirements, I feel it is important to give her rice milk or soy milk.
2. The author advises readers searching for kosher for Passover foods to go shopping at Kosher markets early and often because availability varies in the weeks leading up to Passover. Whether or not you are shopping for Passover foods, I second the author’s recommendation to visit Kosher markets. From my experience, Kosher markets are an incredibly useful place to shop for milk allergic children. First, you don’t have to ask whether they use the same deli slicer for cheese and meat. You know they don’t. Second, their variety of Tofutti products (milk and casein-free cheese and cream cheese) is better than anyone else’s. Third, they often have hard-to-find, crazy delicious pareve ice cream (like Klein’s Kosher Ice Cream). My favorite Kosher market in the Washington area, hands down, is Shalom’s on University Blvd. in Wheaton, Md.
