Quinoa, buckwheat Kosher for Passover?

[Masha]

I read different, quite opposing things on the Internet regarding quinoa and buckwheat. Some Ashkenazi Rabbis say they are OK. Some say they are not OK. (I do know that it would be OK for Sephardim to eat these).

So, what is your opinion or the opinion of your Rabbi? Does your family eat them?

[Painter]

From what I understand buckwheat is not ok and is considered kitniyot. Quinoa is ok as it's not a true grain but is related to beets and spinach. Hope this helps.

[Rubystars]

I obviously can't answer your religious question but a true cereal grain is seed of a grass species. Buckwheat and Quinoa are not grasses and are not true grains but instead would be considered to be pseudocereals.

Common true cereals are wheat, oats, rice, corn, barley and millet but there are others.

[Masha]

From what I understand buckwheat is not ok and is considered kitniyot. Quinoa is ok as it's not a true grain but is related to beets and spinach. Hope this helps.

Painter, thank you. Buckwheat is also not a grain botanically. And I have understood that some Ashkenazi Rabbi do allow buckwheat. But, I guess, the majority of Rabbis do not. I might have quinoa for lunch tomorrow. I am suffering from the acid reflux from all the matzo. I don't tolerate wheat, but am craving something "bready."

[Masha]

I obviously can't answer your religious question but a true cereal grain is seed of a grass species. Buckwheat and Quinoa are not grasses and are not true grains but instead would be considered to be pseudocereals.

Common true cereals are wheat, oats, rice, corn, barley and millet but there are others.

Oh, thanks. I didn't actually know millet is a "true cereal." Millet, buckwheat, and quinoa don't usually give me acid reflux (if I don't overeat). So I assumed that millet was not a cereal either.

[Rubystars]

There are certain grains that cause more problems for people than others do and some that don't tend to cause problems to people who are sensitive.

[muman613]

At least this year nobody is posting pictures of Chametz Pizza.... Baruch Hashem!

[Dr. Dan]

At least this year nobody is posting pictures of Chametz Pizza.... Baruch Hashem!

Funny thing actually.  Passed by a pizzeria which coinsidently was near a deformed and deconstructed temples, offering matza pizza. 

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

I read different, quite opposing things on the Internet regarding quinoa and buckwheat. Some Ashkenazi Rabbis say they are OK. Some say they are not OK. (I do know that it would be OK for Sephardim to eat these).

So, what is your opinion or the opinion of your Rabbi? Does your family eat them?

I eat quinoa, in fact I had some last night.  Some of my friends also eat it.  It was served to me by one of my yom tov lunch hosts in fact.  Quinoa is not one of the grains that becomes chametz.  In the middle east, it wasn't even known that quinoa existed.  Some modern day ashkenazi rabbis have tried to turn quinoa into a new subset of "kitniyos" that would be forbidden to ashkenazim on pesach.  With due respect I think those rabbis do not know what they are talking about.  Aside from the fact that kitniyos is invalid as a custom and has no real source (afterall, the Talmud permits rice on Pesach), assuming for a minute that kitniyos prohibition custom is valid and pretending america is poland, that custom is only relevant to the foods they as a rule avoided and did not eat in the european places where the custom originated.  This is why I think most rabbis do not try to link quinoa to the prohibition.  Its also why many ashkenazim eat peanuts on pesach even though some mistakenly think peanuts are kitniyot and therefore forbidden (actually maybe the majority mistakenly think its forbidden because everyone wants to be frummer than the Jones's and adopt every possible stringency.  The Jews in Russia ate peanuts in pesach, as rabbi isser Zalman Melzer attested.  Anyway I think its very clear quinoa is permitted - it is not even kitniyos - and the actual forms of kitniyos (like rice for example) are most definitely not chametz and can be eaten but, you know, consult your rabbi and all that.

I do not know what buckwheat is so I cant comment on it.

[Masha]

I had a tuna salad with quinoa today. It's been several hours, and I feel fine. Didn't have any matzo today. Usually, I just LOVE matzo brei for breakfast. It's so filling, and really hits the spot for me. My nucleaus accumbens says "yes, yes, give me some matzo brei," but my body is saying no.

Interesting about peanuts. I always thought that peanuts are a form of legumes, and legumes are forbidden during Pesach.