Perfect for Passover

‘Perfect for Passover’: Is this a sentence you have ever heard anyone say? Passover is often viewed as 8 days of forcing down cardboard matzah, lots of sugar and other stodgy delights, whilst wishing for the moment you can dive back into your ‘normal’!

We’ll just start with a mini-disclaimer that this post is in no way trying to provide any religious opinions, but simply to help you have a tastier week of Passover!

Eating at this time of year really doesn’t have to be such a chore and we want to help you find some better alternatives.

Essentially, Passover involves changing your diet, by cutting out the following:

• Anything produced from the five grains wheat, barley, oats, spelt, and rye that has not been prevented from leavening.
• This means that not only bread but also products such as pasta, breakfast cereals, donuts, crackers (other than matzah) are prohibited.

It is also gets a little more difficult as your shopping takes a turn from one of the conventional supermarkets, to buying everything from the kosher supermarkets. For a lot of us, this restricts the choices and definitely confines us to more of the sugary snacks, rather than the many great ‘free-from’ ranges we have available in supermarkets now.

This is where the internet comes in to play. Try and put some time aside to purchasing some of the essentials at the end of this post online. You will then have your basics to cook with, avoiding the use of margarine and vegetable oils.

You’ve told us you don’t like trying to reinvent non-Passover foods such as bread, pasta and rice with Passover-friendly ingredients AKA: cardboard bread, pasta and rice! We couldn’t agree more. We much prefer finding new alternatives to make at Passover. Initially, have a look at our table below for some easy swaps. Then, head over to our Perfect for Passover page for some meals you can make from scratch that will hopefully leave you with less of a void for taste.

Easy wins:

• PREPARE! Make sure you do your Passover shopping early. Buy everything you will need and get stocked up. It’s the same for food prep all year round: if you are prepared with the right ingredients, you’ll be able to stay on track much more easily.
• You know your own level of observance and which products you want to buy kosher of Passover. If you need to buy everything from coconut oil to toothpaste, do a bit of research online beforehand to check where you can buy everything from. We have so much more at our fingertips these days, which is amazing. Get your google on and explore. You can always ask your Rabbi if something is acceptable. Or just go ahead and use it anyway if you wish.. Like we said, we’re not here to preach religious views!
• Get together with friends and make food for each other. This shares the load of cooking and who doesn’t love an excuse to catch up.
• If you can’t find suitable maple syrup, don’t substitute with sugar, add honey instead.
• If all else fails, treat Passover as a detox. We have all heard the craze of Paleo diets going around and Passover is essentially that. Nothing processed, only natural fresh food for 8 days. It really doesn’t do us any harm.

Leading up to and even during Passover, we’d love to hear from you with any suggestions you have. Do you want some more information on any particular food? Do you want a specific recipe from us? Let us know, we’d love to expand this section!