Easter is Over, but my Jewish guests are keeping kosher for Passover - what can I NOT serve?

Problem
What can I serve Jewish guests who are keeping kosher for Passover?

Answer
Let's start with what not to serve. Bread. You need matzo.

Unfortunately it has to be kosher for Passover. We happily bought Matzos in Waitrose.

Later I looked at my matzos. Not for Passover!

I'm not kidding. Here's proof.

NOT FOR PASSOVER USE on a packet of Matzos.

They will keep for a year. But no good this Passover, nor next Passover.

Then I looked online. The online stores selling kosher for Passover goods were closed for Passover.

Waitrose search offered me assorted goods. When I got down to bacon I realised something was wrong.

I then tried searching again under kosher. I came up with nothing.

I looked online for kosher for Passover. I found lots of advice, including the goods not allowed, basically anything that can be fermented:

no barley - so no chicken soup with barley
no oats - so porridge breakfast is out
no rye - I had already guessed no rye bread allowed since bread is the big well-known no-no
no spelt - what's that?
no wheat - yes, I guessed.

I remember one year I visited an ultra frum household (my former travel agent). She never used to be so frum (frum is Yiddish for religious - keeping all the rules). However, her daughter married somebody ultra-orthodox, so, if my friend wants her daughter and son-in-law and grandchildren to visit her house, she has to keep completely kosher.

I thought I would be ok taking her a pot plant as a gift, but, apparently, that was out, too. Literally out. It had to be put down - not killed, put downstairs, in the garage.

Growing food in the garden is now even more imperative, if I am to cater for Passover. I can't grow barley, oats, rye, spelt nor wheat. But I wasn't planning growing those anyway. I have a lawn. How about tomatoes on a windowsill? I shall have to check.

The moral is, buy your kosher for Passover food before Passover. I shall know for next year. Now I know why so many Jewish people like to go to hotels for a Passover meal. Because it is such a palaver. At the end of the Passover seder meal, you read in the Haggadah: Next year in Jerusalem. From a catering point of view, I can see why.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my previous posts on Passover.

Happy New Year : What's Kosher In A London Supermarket?

 Problem
What to buy to entertain Jewish guests who keep kosher? By the time we set off after work on Wednesday September 21st the Jewish style restaurant, B & K had shut. We went to the big supermarket on a mission to buy apples and honey - and to see what else a large general supermarket could supply.

First, where was the kosher section? Everything had moved around with a large area for clothes, especially back to school and children's clothes.  The signs direct you to Kosher foods, Asian foods and all kinds of special sections.

Answer
Let's take a look at Morrisons supermarket in England. Our aim was to buy apples and honey.

The first thing we recognized was Rakusen's Matzos. Rakusen's were also offering chocolate bears. Something to amuse children, we thought. We were in the dried good section.

Honey for sweet new year. We saw nougat. We had the bright idea of checking for different kinds. Cranberry and almond, or dark chaolate, three kinds of nougat. We had to hunt right at the back of the shelf and found a third variety.

The apple crumble cake was more expensive than the marble cake, we presumed because having fruit meant more ingredients and perhaps a shorter shelf life.

Finally wines, kosher wines.

Quite a choice. What about the drivers? Two sorts of grape juice.

Then off to the fish section for smoked salmon. We did some price comparisons of different packs.

Next the meat section. We found Gilbert's and other brands. Falafel. Vegetarian. Suits everybody.

Then to the honey section.
Solid honey or liquid honey? Liquid honey so you can dip apple slices in it. My companion bought three types of honey. I sigh. Surely one would do. We are three times over budget, a trolley full of food, apparently to entertain one person.

One Or Three?
I recall how my husband used to tell me I should take only one of something and I always took three. Now I see somebody else doing the same, three types of honey, three types of nougat. I recall my husband's complaint, 'You are spending my money!'

Decisions
It is not only the money. It is the time the clutter, the waste of leftover food. The incessant search for something better. I can now see both sides. It's also about not being able to make a decision.

Fruit
Then to fruit. We did not see pomegranates, whose seeds symbolise life. However, having gone over our budget, we were delighted with Gala apples which at £1 for six were the bargain of the day.

Shana Tova - Happy New Year!

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.