Monday, April 14, 2008

PLAINVIEW'S PASSOVER PARADISE

See this?


















Here's a close-up.


















And look over here!


















I took the above shots on Friday at the ShopRite of Morton Village in Plainview, Long Island. Weeks ago I found many gluten-free Kosher for Passover products at the very same location, but on this return visit I found even more gluten-free goodies. Many of the above products are gluten-free—and they're just a sampling of the supermarket's current gluten-free stock.

The bait that drew me back to the store: gluten-free frozen mini-eclairs that my mother had spotted. I tend to be skeptical about the quality of Kosher gluten-free foods...and the cream in the mini-eclairs wasn't really cream...but those frozen eclairs—from Frank's Gourmet Bakery—were good enough to win me over (especially when still unthawed) and pique my interest about what else I might find there.

The above shots show the displays that greeted me as I entered the store. Many (but not all) of the items were gluten-free (labeled as such or as "non-gebrokts"); many (but not all) of the latter were from Shabtai Gourmet. When I last covered Shabtai, I mentioned "a very decadent almond pasty marble cakey treat that I'm having trouble identifying" that I now know is the French Chocolate Coffee Cake. I have now also had my first experience with Shabtai's very sweet and moist Krakofsky Cookies, made with almonds and honey.

Moving deeper into the ShopRite, I found another zone of interest: the central freezer section. Making several passes through this area, I found the frozen mini-eclairs and Kedem non-gebrokts gefilte fish (not frozen) as well as a trove of other products including gluten-free Spring Valley Cheese Blintzes made by the MilMar Food Group of Goshen, New York.

The Spring Valley Cheese Blintzes were near these products (many of which were gluten-free).


















It was around this point that my basket overflowed...

















...and I had to get a shopping cart to hold all the gluten-free booty. I figured I had to seize the moment because the products might only be there for Passover.

So yeah: Keep an eye out for gluten-free foods that might only be available for the next couple of weeks or so. Your best bets will probably be stores that specialize in Kosher food or at least temporarily stock up with foods that are Kosher for Passover. Be open-minded about trying out the foods—don't expect them to uniformly excellent or especially nutritious. And keep in mind that many of the foods might be frozen, so that you might have to find a way to keep them from melting after you buy them.

And remember: Look for the labels "gluten-free" and "non-gebrokts." The label "Kosher for Passover" is not sufficient, as it might well be applied to a product made with traditional matzoh or matzoh meal, which contains gluten.

And if you are thinking about going to this particular ShopRite, keep in mind that there are even more gluten-free goodies elsewhere in Plainview, where Dr. B. Well Naturally, Get Healthy America, and Fairway can be found along Manetto Hill Road. And there's even a Trader Joe's nearby!

Photos: David Marc Fischer

15 comments:

SueZboss said...

Thanks for the AWESOME report about ShopRite! I would have totally forgot to go there this year! I can't believe how much MORE stuff they got this year....
THANKS! (I gave you a shout out on my blog because this was so awesome, i had to post there as well... http://glutenfreelongisland.blogspot.com/)
-sue

Anonymous said...

Mini-eclairs! Tempting. I am going to check out the local supermarkets on Staten Island. Thanks for the heads-up.

SueZboss said...

Thanks for your comment on my blog!

YES!!! Last year, I actually heard about going there after passover, and everything was 1/2 price, but was very limited in selection... but I did go many days after passover... so I plan to go next week to see about sales!

Again, thanks for the great report! And your blog rocks!

-Sue

David Marc Fischer said...

Thank you, Sue!

(Your check is in the mail....)

Unknown said...

This is awesome! I just emailed my mom with a gluten-free grocery list since I will see her in this weekend. I want those gluten-free ravioli!!! Plainview is seriously the gluten-free Mecca of Long Island. And they have two home-grown awesome bloggers... if I do say so myself. ;-)

David Marc Fischer said...

Well, don't get too excited about the ravioli--I'm not sure that they are gf, actually!

However, as you know, Conte's makes delicious gf ravioli. I think they're available at Get Healthy America.

And, for the record, I'm an Old Bethpage boy myself! Not that there's anything wrong with Plainview....

The GF WW Blog~ said...

Thank you so much for covering this! I live nearby in Freeport and I had no idea that such a great selection was available. I went over there and bought a bunch of cookies, eclairs, and cakes! I was really in heaven. Thanks again :)

David Marc Fischer said...

You're very welcome!

Anonymous said...

What an incredible gluten-free wonderland! It reminds me of Charlie and and Chocolate Factory for gluten-free delights...

--Catherine
www.aglutenfreeguide.com

Allergic Girl® said...

so excellent, fairway was sorely lacking in choices...

Sildenafil said...

this place is a real cheese paradise, I see all kind and flavors, and my favorites, the cheese made to prepare pizza, OK it's time for a little visit to this cheese market.

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