As someone who eats gluten free and relatively low carb all year long, I sort of look forward to Passover, that time of year when dietary restrictions don’t keep me from getting my carb on! It’s a largely wheat free holiday, where food is front and center. There are sponge cakes and noodle kugels, macaroons and tortes. All made without wheat or wheat flour. Let me undo a button here… . Actually, I suggest some nice stretchy yoga pants. Traditional Passover break garb for me and bonus that I can work out in them too. If I walk on the beach I can almost pretend I’m trudging through the desert. Towards a nice slice of honey cake.
There’s so much good stuff for us gluten free folks to eat for Passover but one thing, one VERY IMPORTANT thing, was still missing.
The one central staple of Passover, the symbolic food in fact, “Matzo” is made with wheat flour. It’s made very carefully and quickly under strict supervision. It has to bake for a very brief time and the flour cannot be given the chance to rise after mixing with water. No leavening agents (yeast, baking powder etc) can be used.
Matzoh and matzoh meal are a wheat-filled staple of many, many Passover foods as well as part of the Seder (Passover Dinner) ritual. So while I get cake, I don’t get matzoh ball soup, or matzo brie, or matzo pizza or to participate fully by eating a Hillel sandwich (horseradish & sweet charoseth on matzoh) at the family seder.
Until now. I’m no longer in seder exile!
Yehuda has come out (finally!) with a gluten free matzo cracker that is yummy, and also easy to make your favorite recipes with. It’s made from a combination of tapioca and potato starch and has a nice, slightly savory flavor. Almost saltine like. Melts in your mouth a little.
I’ve used this matzoh successfully to make (my grandmother’s recipe) matzo balls gluten free and I’ve tried it with a schmear and I approve! I think we’re good to go for a gluten free but complete Seder for me this year. Maybe a little too good. I ate an entire box in one day.
My only caveat about this matzo, and it is a minor one, is that it breaks apart more easily that traditional matzo. Take care with your boxes and don’t drop them! It doesn’t matter if you are baking/making balls but if you want whole unbroken sheets to put on the table, be gentle. I do suggest ordering Gluten Free Matzo direct from the Gluten Free Matzo site to ensure your order is packed with care. My mom picked up a box at Walmart that was obviously a little manhandled as the sheets were smashed (but nevertheless delicious!). More matzo balls for me! If you order online you can get $5 off your order when you you use the coupon code: Party99 .
Are you a little stumped as to what to make for Passover meals for your family that are Gluten Free and delicious? Don’t know how to make all the classic Matzo dishes with gluten free matzo? Check out this Gluten Free Passover Cookbook that is also available on the Gluten Free Matzo site. It’s full of ideas for all year round. Including a noodle recipe that I might try to make lasagna noodles with. It sounds very promising! I could use many of the recipes in this cookbook all year round.
Disclosure: GlutenFreeMatzo.com sent me a few boxes of Matzoh to try out and a copy of this awesome cookbook. I can’t wait to try making the noodles in the cookbook and I’m ordering some more matzoh. Someone might have already eaten the sample matzo all up. Excuse me. I have to undo another button now.
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