A Jewish food blogger who maintains a strictly gluten-free kitchen because her daughter has Celiac disease, Becker said quinoa is one of the most important foods. I didnt have a completely informed answer, and neither did the OU. Quinoa ruled kosher for Passover - Chicago Tribune Quinoa-Stuffed Chicken by Michal Frischman. Ghoori said that at his prodding, a local investor signed on and in 2013 opened the Bio-Andes processing plant high in Puno, an Andean town. Over$150 billion of kosher certifiedproducts are consumed annually, and spending continues to rise dramatically. Before Ghoori undertook his quest, a competing kosher certification agency had ruled that the grain could be kosher for Passover. But the O.U., the nations largest kosher certification agency, had refused to give its stamp of approval. list of questions. for the holiday was sold under the direct export model championed by Ghoori. People are always on the lookout to diversify theirPesach menu with healthy food choices. Please check your inbox for our emails, and to manage your subscription. See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs. Quinoa, like amaranth, is a seed, and there is widespread acceptance of quinoa as a Passover food except among some Ashkenazim who avoid kitniyot. In the Americas, it refers to maize,in Scotland to oats, and in Germany to wheat orrye. Ghoori met with local leaders and growers and claims he opened their eyes to the real value of their crop and helped convince them to use the new processing facility. People would ask me, Is quinoa kosher for Passover? he said. Traces of the five restricted Passover grains mentioned in the Talmud wheat, barley, oats, spelt and rye could be found in the quinoa if the machines weren't adequately cleaned between the processing of different products. Although the problem may not be the Passover kosher-ness of amaranth itself, the issue of contamination is real and as of now, may to some seem insurmountable. Quinoa's popularity stems from its reputation as a "complete" food. there's a new answer: For the first time, the Orthodox Union, the ultimate authority on kosher foods, has put its "kosher for Passover" symbol on certain brands of quinoa. Image by Courtesy of Shoshan Ghoori, By Hody Nemes Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel, What Matters Now to Prof. Yedidia Stern: A thin constitution, A fresh look at Israels founding moral compass, 2023 The Times of Israel , All Rights Reserved, Quinoa stuffed vegetables (photo credit: Danya Weiner). Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher, announced today that quinoa, the grain-like seed grown in South America, is Kosher for Passover when processed with special OU Passover supervision and bearing the OU-P symbol. Its a disputed food, so we cant hold an opinion, and we dont certify it. But it is an annual herb that bears seeds in a cluster. Amaranth has gone by many names through history: amaranto, ataco, coyolito, quihuicha sangorache and huauti. Some inspectors have found traces of wheat, and other grains susceptible to leavening in the cooking process, mixed in with quinoa shipped by some farmers, he said. Under Jewish law, violating Passover dietary law is a serious offense, referred to by the Hebrew word karet, which means to be cut off from ones soul. The influential Orthodox Union has quinoa on its, Joey Allaham, the owner of Prime Grill in New York, tells. Rabbi Victor S. Appell (he/him/his) is the Associate Rabbi at Temple Emanu-El of Westfield, NJ. Amaranth seeds, neither a grain nor a cereal, can be ground into flour. Only supervising the cultivation and processing of amaranth and demarcating it as untouched and unmixed with chametz would render it usable. The question was taken up by the poskim (halachic decisors) of the Orthodox Unions kashrut division who reached a consensus that under appropriate conditions, the OU could certify quinoa for Passover, providing it has been processed with specific supervision for the holiday. Prohibited by custom for Ashkenaz families since the early Middle Ages, kitniyot is a group of foods that include legumes and grains like rice. You can find it in most supermarkets, shelved with the grains. Moshe concludes that since peanuts were not present in Europe at the time of the Rishonim, they arenot considered kitniyos. To avoid any hametz (leavened foods forbidden at Passover), spread the quinoa out on a cookie sheet and pick out any grains that might have cross-contaminated the crop. Quinoa has a nutty or grassy flavor that some might find a little bitter. Rather, the minhag only applies to those species that were available in Europe atthe time that the minhag was instituted. The O.U. Its a member of the goosefoot family, and closely related to spinach and beets. Traditional tabbouleh is a refreshing Lebanese salad made with fresh parsley, tomatoes, scallions or onions, and bulgur wheat with a simple olive oil, lemon, and salt dressing. Why do Jewish holidays always begin at night? of the Kashrut Division of the Orthodox Union. Her hot line has received hundreds of anxious inquiries on the topic, Ms. Mathes-Scharf said. Therefore, only a reliable kosher for Passover supervision will guarantee that there are no . What is Quinoa and How To Cook It - Jamie Geller Alternatively, kitniyot foods were grown in close proximity to grains and therefore might have been cross-contaminated with chametz. In a previous issue of Kosher Spirit (Spring2009), the legendary Rabbi Zusha Yosef Blech ZL explained why corn was the only new food thatmade it onto the kitniyos list: While the commonname for maize is corn, the origin of the word cornis quite different. Quinoa, the grain-like seed grown in South America, is Kosher for Passover when processed with special OU Passover supervision and bearing the OU-P symbol. The tribe, which Ghoori said decided to make him an honorary member, had told him about its struggles to find a way to preserve its identity in 21st-century Peru, and was fascinated by his acceptance of modernity and Orthodox Judaism. Quinoa (pronounced ki-NO-uh or KEEN-wah) is a grainlike South American crop newly popular among health-conscious North Americans. Amaranth, like quinoa, has for centuries languished outside the American food psyche. Ashkenazi Jews of European origin follow a centuries-old prohibition against eating kitniyot, which includes staples like rice, corn, chickpeas and sometimes peanuts. Thank you for subscribing to emails from ReformJudaism.org! He practiced customs different from those of his Ashkenazi neighbors, and also endured bullying and racial epithets. Through his work he discovered that due to their different harvesting times and remote locations in the Andes mountains, quinoa is grown and stored separately from other crops. Though he set out to discover only the foods kosher status, he would become an unlikely champion of exploited Peruvian farmers, helping them export their goods for a fair price. Typically any grains that . The Rishonim give two reasonsfor the prohibition of kitniyos. You can live in the modern world and be religious and keep your customs.. His statement is as follows: It is only recently that quinoa has become popular outside of its high-altitude growing area in the Andean mountain region of South America. It was only a year ago that the Orthodox Union said it could not certify quinoa, but late last year they reversed that position. Although quinoa was kosher, I felt that something not so kosher was going on.. On the other hand, he continues, the CRC (Chicago Rabbinical Council) is of the opinion that it is not kitniyot; however, it must have a special Passover certification that no other seeds were mixed into it. Today, Ghoori and Monteblanco believe that the direct export model is spreading. 2023 Orthodox Union | All Rights Reserved, {{formatTime(zmanim.candle_lighting_shabbos)}}. Amaranth has been widely used in traditional diets in parts of Mexico and throughout the Americas for centuries. Thats why we started the Times of Israel eleven years ago - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world. Over the next two years, Ghoori would return to the Andean highlands on nearly 10 fact-finding missions. Kitniyos is loosely translatedas legumes. April 13, 2014. This is the result of bitter compounds called saponins that cover the seeds. Foods not eaten during Passover. Therefore, quinoa should only be used with reliable Kosher for Passover certification or agency approval. If that barley manages to make its way into a sifted batch of quinoa, and avoid detection during repackaging, it could wind up gracing your seder table on Passover night. Quinoa is not one of these grains, nor is it related to any of these grains, and is therefore not considered chametz. Some medieval Ashkenazi rabbis ruled that kitniyot (legumes) could not be eaten during Passover because they could be confused with chametz products. These rabbis are always changing their minds, so Im confident theyll have a new statement next year, she said. They may be using the same equipment or bags to harvest a field of quinoa, and a field of something else, he said. Weekly email newsletter filled with articles, Divrei Torah, upcoming events and more! Baking Powder. Maybe when you go back a year later, two of those kids have already died of cancer. Theyre asking me 20 times a day, What is the ruling? Gabe Boxer, the stores general manager, said last week. Quinoa, a grain-like crop grown in South America, is not one of the grains considered chametz (wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt, or their derivatives). Sign up today. Ghoori estimates that 110 tons of O.U.-certified quinoa will make it onto Passover tables this year, all of which is sold by Pereg Gourmet and Goldbaums. We all needed more information.. Its great to have it on Passover instead of the usual potatoes, potatoes, potatoes. Copyright 2023 The Forward Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Like, what to do about the quinoa situation? All aluminum foil and disposable pans and trays, wax paper. Most of the Passover foods just end up tasting like Passover, so we rely on quinoa to be that side staple.. For that reason, one of the nations leading kashrut certification companies, Star-K of Baltimore, issued an opinion in 1997 that quinoa was kosher for Passover.
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