QUINOA
ON PESAH
The
Torah prohibits the consumption on Pesah of any food made from the “five
species of grain,” conventionally identified as wheat, barley,
rye, oats, and spelt, unless it has been carefully made in such a way
that no leavening or fermentation could take place.
Since the
Middle Ages, Ashkenazic Jews have also avoided eating kitniyot, foods
commonly although inexactly identified with legumes, which either
resemble the five forbidden species of grains or are often found
or processed around those grains. Examples are peas, beans, and rice.
Recently, there
has been great interest in quinoa, a grain-like food native to South
America. Quinoa is clearly not one of the five forbidden kinds of
grain.
Furthermore, it is a very different type of plant than the familiar
grains or kitniyot. Those all belong to the order Poales. Quinoa
belongs to
the order Caryophyllales, and is therefore related to cacti, carnations,
spinach, beets, and rhubarb.
Most rabbinic
authorities have ruled, therefore, that quinoa is permitted on Pesah,
the only qualification being that one must be sure that
it has not come into contact with the forbidden grains during processing.
Therefore, it is better to buy quinoa in boxes rather than in bulk.
Currently (2007), boxes of quinoa produced under the supervision
of
the Kosher
Overseers Associates of America ( ) may be considered kosher for
Passover.
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