By Judah Levi
Is all rice Kosher for Pesach for Sephardim?
Rice for Pesach with no kashrut concerns is no simple feat. One of the greatest ongoing challenges for Sephardim is finding properly supervised kitniyot foods for use on PesachOne of the main issues concerned the enrichments used in U.S. rice mills to replace the vitamins removed in the polishing steps of rice milling. Another issue was that rice is often packed in facilities that also pack Chametz products on the same equipment. For national Pesach certification this almost always requires some type of meaningful Hashgacha beyond just assuming that it is acceptable. Last year Rav Emanuel Goldfeiz STAR-S Rav HaMachshir, Rabbi Zvi Holland, STAR-K’s Kashrut Administrator assigned to the STAR-S project, assisted by Rabbi Tzvi Rosen, STAR-K’s Kashrut Administrator for U.S. rice production, determined that much of the enrichments could not be endorsed for Pesach due to Chametz concerns and that the vast majority of rice packed in the U.S. shared lines with enriched rice and packaging at plants that also pack chametz .
Thus, Carolina Mehadrin Rice was born. After discussing the project with the STAR-S Rav Hamachshir Rav Goldfeiz Shlit”a Rabbi Rosen and Rabbi Holland, along with Rabbi Moshe Cohen of Ateret Torah, who agreed to serve as mashigiach temidi at the rice production , traveled to rice country to find a way to produce extra long grain white rice for Pesach. They arranged for a run of this rice for Pesach, L’Mehadrin. Carolina Mehadrin is unique, as it will be the ONLY American rice that STAR-S can endorse for Pesach with the following Hiddurim:
· The rice is grown and transported in fields dedicated exclusively to rice that is located hundreds of miles away from other grain fields;
· The rice transported in trucks dedicated exclusively to rice
· The rice is packed in specially dedicated clean lines without concerns of chametz additives;
· The rice is produced under hashgacha temidit from beginning to end.
Despite the fact that these rice products are meticulously cleaned in the factories with advanced machines, the Gedolei Haposkim of the Sephardic kehillot feel that the established custom of checking the rice, grain by grain, three times is still required. Therefore, STAR-S-P certified rice products should be checked, grain by grain, three times prior to its usage on Pesach.
Due to a big demand the rice selection for this year has been expanded
Carolina Mehadrin-Extra Long Grain White Rice
Carolina Mehadrin Brown Rice
Goya Mehadrin Medium Grain Rice
Where Oh Where Can I Get My Passover Rice?
MOISHA’s DISCOUNT
ARON KISSENA FARMS
CHALOUH MARKET
CHALOUH #2
KINGS HIGHWAY GLATT
KINGS GLATT MARK
KOSHER KORNER
SEVEN MILE MARKET-Baltimore
ZAKAY- SOUTH AMERICA-Panama
KOSHER PALACE
SHALOM GROCERY
AVE S SUPERMARKET
AKIVA GROCERY
SASSON AND FARRAH
MOUNTAIN FRUITS
MOTI’S SUPERMARKET(ROCKVILLE , MARYLAND)
KOSHER WEST-Lakewood, NJ
SHALOM STRICTLY(DEKELBAUM)- SILVER SPRINGS, MARYLAND
SHLOIMY’S GLATT
SARAS TENT Deal, NJ
I&D GLATT
SARAHS TENT Brooklyn
More Passover & Kitniyot Products
For Pesach 5774 more Kitniyot products are available than ever.
For information on how to order Carolina Mehadrin, please contact Quality Frozen foods at (718) 256-9100 or for more information contact STAR-K at (410) 484-4110.
Jasmine and Basmati Rice
Two other very popular kinds of rice used by the Sephardim are the basmati variety from India, and the aromatic jasmine rice from Thailand. While fundamentally a pure product, when packed in the U.S., these products can present Pesach issues with regard to transport and packing.
Himalayan Pride Basmati Rice (Brown &
White) (No STAR-S P Req. /STAR-K Required- Product is Kitniyot)
Super Lucky Elephant Jasmine Rice
(No STAR-S P Req./STAR-KRequired- Product is Kitniyot)
(The above 2 brands are available nationwide in Costco, Walmart, Sam’s Club and other fine stores/distributed on the East Coast by EMD sales (301) 520-3856)
FROZEN BEANS
Yerek Brand (STAR-S P Kitniyot required)
Green Beans
Cut Green Beans
French Cut Green Beans
Green Peas
Peas & Carrots
Cut Corn
Mixed Vegetables
Baby Lima Beans
(Available in your local Kosher supermarket, distributed nationally by Quality Frozen Foods- 718-256-9100)
NUTS & SEEDS
Setton Farms (STAR-S P Kitniyot Required)
Roasted Peanuts
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Roasted Sunflower Seeds
(Available in your local Kosher supermarket, distributed nationally by Quality Frozen Foods- 718-256-9100)
SALADS
Pikante Salad (When bearing Star-S and Kosher L’Pesach L’ochlei Kitniyot INKJETTED in Hebrew on the Label)
Babaganoush
Caponata Italian Eggplant Cuisine
Chinese Eggplant
Grilled Eggplant
Hummus & Turkish salad
Hummus Abu-Gosh
Hummus Classic
Hummus Galilee
Hummus Jalapeno & Herbs
Hummus Jerusalem
Hummus Marrakech
Hummus Masabacha Jalapeno & Herbs
Hummus Moroccan Salsa (Matbucha)
Hummus Old Jerusalem Traditional
Hummus Pine Nuts
Hummus Premium
Hummus Roasted Pine nuts
Hummus roasted Red Pepper
Hummus Sun-dried Tomato
Hummus with Tehina
Hummus with Roasted Hot Pepper
Hummus Za’atar
Hummus Garlic & Lemon
Indian Eggplant
Matbucha Moroccan
Moroccan Long Hot Pepper
Red Cabbage
Red Cabbage salad
Romanian Eggplant
Sliced Spanish Eggplant
Spanish Eggplant
Tahini Baladi (original) with Soft Chick Peas
Tahini Dip & Spread
Tehina
Thai Salad Spicy
Turkish Salad
Vegetarian Liver
(Distributed by: Pikante USA Corp, 5334 SW 38th Way,
Hollywood, FL 33312)
CANNED GOODS
California Delight (STAR-S P Kitniyot required)
Baby Corn -Whole Sprears
Cut baby Corn
Whole Kernel Corn
(Available in your local Kosher supermarkets, distributed nationally by DS International Traders- 323-725-1045; Quality Frozen Foods- 718-256-9100)
In addition, The following products are certified STAR-S P and meet Sephardic standards for Chalak Beit Yosef and/or Bishul Beit Yosef
MEAT- All Chalak Beit Yosef L’Sephardim
Maimonides Meats (No STAR-S P Req./a Req.)
Boxed Beef
Boxed Lamb
Boxed Veal
(Distributed by Premier Tasty Meats- 214-733-1450
M&D Glatt (No STAR-S P Req./a Req.)
Boxed Lamb
Boxed Veal
(Distributed by M&D Glatt- 646-765-4510)
CANNED GOODS
California Delight (STAR-S P Required)
Heats of Palm-Whole
Hearts of Palm Cuts & Pieces
Pears in Light Syrup
(Available in your local Kosher supermarkets distributed nationally by DS International Traders – 323-725-1045; Quality Frozen Foods – 718-256-9100)
TUNA– Bishul Beit Yosef, Mashgiach Temidi
California Delight (STAR-S P required)
Chunk “TONGOL” Tuna in Water
Chunk Light Tuna in Water
Chunk White Albacore Tuna in Water
Chunk Yellowfin Tuna in Water
Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water
Skipjack Chunk Tuna in Water
(Available in your local Kosher supermarkets distributed nationally by DS International Traders- 323-725-1045; Quality Frozen Foods- 718-256-9100)
{Matzav.com Newscenter}
“The rice is grown and transported in fields dedicated exclusively to rice that is located hundreds of miles away from other grain fields”
B”H! Last year I felt like I was eating Chametz, b/c the rice that I bought was grown only 90 miles away from other grains, not Hundreds!
I always knew that all the rice that we’ve been eating on Pesach was chametz, b/c it didn’t have these hechsherim and chumrot.
How do we do Teshuva for the past Hundreds of years?!
Maybe it’s better not to eat rice at all. Who knows what the next hechser is going to discover.
One of the chumros are that the rice is transported in trucks dedicated exclusively to rice.
Do those trucks transport only PESACH rice? Or Chamatez rice also?
Do the stores that it gets deliverd to contain chometz in them also?
Thank you for being attentive to the
Needs of acheinu hasephardim
Why would hearts of palm not be permissible for Ashkenazim as well as Sefardim?
Unfortunately, much American rice grown outside of California has been found to contain excessive levels of arsenic. This is a sad legacy of the fact that the rice paddies now used to rice used to be fields that grew cotton, which was treated with massive doses of arsenic-containing pesticides. I only buy rice from India, Thailand, or California.
Charlie,
Thank you for such an on topic response about what you do.