Cafe Liz goes kosher for Passover

April 7, 2009 at 1:00 am | Tags: , ,

seder-plate-with-matzo

Cafe Liz is going kosher for Passover: I’ve cleaned the kitchen and thrown out last year’s matzo. Oh, and I’ve also gone through all my recipes, and pulled out the ones that suit the holiday, based on both Ashkenazi and Sephardi traditions.

Kosher for Passover recipes by Sephardi standards
Kosher for Passover recipes by Ashkenazi standards (kitniyot free)
Passover-specific recipes

If you keep Sephardi Passover like my family, you’re probably used to a vibrant, vegetable- and rice-filled Passover (I’m thanking my Turkish and Greek ancestors as we speak). In fact, I usually find that I have more things to eat over Passover, not less, because I cook more. Since the only things off-limit are wheat, spelt, barley, oats and rye, all the rice noodle and bean-thread dishes are perfectly fine, as well as everything with tofu, bean soups and, of course, rice. Just double-check that your soy sauce doesn’t contain wheat (look for something gluten-free, and read the label).

If you go by Ashkenazi traditions, well, things look a little more bleak. Aside from the five key grains, Ashkenazim also forgo kitniyot, which include rice, corn, soy beans, string beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, mustard, sesame seeds and poppy seeds. But don’t despair, I’ve found that a good number of my recipes would work even for the strictest adherents.

If you eat kitniyot derivatives, then you can go through the list of Sephardi kosher recipes, and thus increase your options. Also, there’s been a debate about whether the kitniyot ban should even apply, in Israel and in general. But that’s another matter.

Many of the recipes that I didn’t include in the above lists could be altered to make them kosher for Passover (like many recipes), but I left them out to avoid confusion. Obviously, if I’ve mislabeled anything, please let me know.

Happy holiday!

P.S. In response to some queries I got over Google:

3 Comments »

Have something to say? Tried a recipe and liked it, or want to suggest a variation? You're invited to post it here. RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

  1. hi liz, i came across your blog while looking for sephardi passover recipes :) love it! love your photos too. i am very picky about food blogs and am delighted to have stumbled upon yours. chag sameach!

    Comment by divaindoors — April 8, 2009 #

  2. Thanks so much! I’ll be posting real Sephardi recipes later this week (not just Sephardi style). Chag sameach!

    Comment by Liz — April 8, 2009 #

  3. [...] kinds that flourish in Israel’s Mediterranean climate, a dose of local scenery, special Passover recipes and homemade ice cream and sorbet (vegan/parve, of [...]

    Pingback by Cafe Liz » Cafe Liz featured on Foodie BlogRoll Finest Foodies Friday -- Kosher vegetarian recipes from my kitchen in Tel Aviv — May 8, 2009 #

Leave a comment

After you submit a comment, it should appear above, even if it's been held for moderation. If it doesn't appear, that means it's been pegged as spam. Please contact me directly to let me know.

In order not to get falsely pegged as spam, if you're a first-time commenter, please don't post anything that looks like a form letter, or include links (you can write out the name of the web site, or send links to me in a message, and I'll add them to your comment).

XHTML tags that can be used: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

All content and photos copyright 2008-2010, Liz Steinberg. All rights reserved. Please seek permission before republishing.
Powered by WordPress with theme based on Pool design by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds. Valid XHTML and CSS. ^Top^