Passover Flours

[clbevilacqua]

I think I saw something on here but I can't find it now and I know this is after Passover, but it will come again, so sorry if this is repetitive. I read something that said Passover food couldn't have wheat/barley/rye in it (because the gluten is a leavening). But I thought that when I looked on some of the ingredient labels they listed wheat so I just gave up. Then one of the other threads had something on it that wheat during Passover was ok if it was first made into matzo-does this destroy the gluten and does that then make it gluten-free?

[ArtGirl]

I'm not Jewish but my understanding is that "suitable for Passover" does not have leavening or corn (and, of course, no cornstarch). It can contain wheat. Those with corn allergies, like myself, do look for Passover foods, but with gluten intolerance they can only be those that do not contain wheat/barley/rye/oats.

Now if I have this wrong, I'm sure someone will correct me.

If you have dairy allergy, then those products that are Parve are good because they contain no milk products (or meat, either). Some of them are also suitable for Passover and will be labeled as such.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Passover flours are flours made from ground-up matzoh, which, unfortunately for us, does usually contain wheat.

Usually, matzoh is made from roasted wheat and water, which are not permitted to sit as a dough for longer than 18 minutes (apparently, at that point, it begins to rise even without baking powder or yeats or baking soda). It is then baked into a big cracker-like square (very similar to communion wafers).

[RiceGuy]

I believe the thread you are looking for is the one about the matzo. Open Original Shared Link on that thread gives a link which states that wheat and so forth cannot be used for passover. However, I've seen a number of matzo recipes, even on sites about passover foods, which use ordinary wheat flour. So from what I can tell the traditions/rules aren't always followed.

Anyway, if you are using a gluten-free flour and no levening then it will be fine no matter what the "official" judgment is on passover and wheat. I think the rules say not to let it sit for more than x-number of minutes so it doesn't begin to ferment on its own. I guess that would technically make it a sourdough.

[hineini]

When people say "Passover flour" they usually mean "Cake meal" or "matzo meal" both of which are made from finely ground matzoh, which is made of wheat. Matzo is the only form of wheat we Jews eat during Passover, so plain wheat flour's not okay but if you take a matzo (which is made of unleavened wheat) and grind it up into flour, that IS okay...

HOWEVER, because 5 grains are to be avoided during Passover, much of the baking for Passover is wheat free and gluten-free. FOr instance, macaroons made with just coconut and sugar and eggwhites... Flourless chocolate cake... And cakes made with potato flour. Around Passover time you will see potato flour on the shelves (you can find it year round in stores that have Kosher sections). You can make some really tasty baked goods with it.

[clbevilacqua]

When people say "Passover flour" they usually mean "Cake meal" or "matzo meal" both of which are made from finely ground matzoh, which is made of wheat. Matzo is the only form of wheat we Jews eat during Passover, so plain wheat flour's not okay but if you take a matzo (which is made of unleavened wheat) and grind it up into flour, that IS okay...

HOWEVER, because 5 grains are to be avoided during Passover, much of the baking for Passover is wheat free and gluten-free. FOr instance, macaroons made with just coconut and sugar and eggwhites... Flourless chocolate cake... And cakes made with potato flour. Around Passover time you will see potato flour on the shelves (you can find it year round in stores that have Kosher sections). You can make some really tasty baked goods with it.

Thanks so much for clearing this up for me. I will look for items around Passover time.

-Cathy