Passover Product Watch 2009: Frank's Mini Eclairs

Plus: A Gluten-Free Passover Cookbook













Days ago, the ShopRite at Morton Village in Plainview, Long Island, received what was probably its last delivery of Passover products—including the return of frozen Mini Eclairs from Frank's Gourmet Bakery! Even if you set aside the gluten-free pastry dough made from potato and tapioca starch, these little treats would still not be "classic" eclairs in the sense that the filling isn't made with dairy products. But Frank's version—thawed or frozen—is still good enough for gluten-free me. I'm glad to see them back.

But why, oh why, is it so hard to find the rest of the gluten-free product line from Frank's Gourmet Bakery?

In other news, Gluten Free Bay is excited over Tamar Ansh's kosher gluten-free cookbook Pesach~Anything's Possible!.

Passover Product Watch 2009: Return to ShopRite

Yesterday I stopped by the ShopRite at Morton Village in Plainview, Long Island, and saw that a good number of gluten-free products had arrived! Near the customer service counter are boxes of gluten-free baked goods from the likes of Shabtai, Mendy's, and Oberlander's. Many of the contents overlap—lots of rainbow cookies—but there are some unusual items such as Oberlander's sugar-free kichel, which is something like a very plain-tasting, airy breadstick (that certainly might not be to everyone's taste, especially without some sort of tasty embellishment).

In one of the central aisles you can find an assortment of gluten-free Passover groceries including Lieber's Knaidel Mix (suitable for making faux matzoh balls) as well as Geffen's Kneidel Mix (which I imagine is also suitable for making faux matzoh balls).
















Attractions in a frozen foods aisle include gluten-free blintzes from Frankel's...


















...and the Hoo-Lachmu flatbreads as well as two types of pizza. (The Hoo-Lachmu pizza seems to be a repackaging of last year's Manischewitz appetizer-sized mini-pizzas, as one might see from the reference to Manischewitz that remains on the back of the box.)


















The company Klein's Real Kosher, which has a hand in the marketing of the Hoo-Lachmu brand, also has its label on Italian ices that look very similar to the Manischewitz product from last year. You can see them in the group shot below, along with a jar of Kedem's Passover Gefilte Fish (at a very reasonable price and definitely worth a taste) and Osem's bagged cakes.
















This is just a sampling of the gluten-free Passover foods available at the Morton Village ShopRite. There were more last year—and there's still time for additional items to show up at this supermarket. Just keep in mind that not all Passover food is gluten-free: Matzoh is wheat, so anything with matzoh should be avoided in favor of food marked gluten-free or non-gebrokts. And if you're in the vicinity of Plainview, remember that you're also close to much gluten-free grocery shopping at Dr. B. Well Naturally, Eat Healthy America, Fairway, and Trader Joe's.

If the Plainview ShopRite isn't convenient to you, look for products online at places like kosher.com, and also look out for Passover Stores as well as kosher grocers in your area. (The more grocers understand that there's a demand for good gluten-free food year-round, the more likely it is that they'll build the market for those foods.) A visit to the Jewish community of Monsey, New York, might also be productive.

Photos: David Marc Fischer

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

KNAIDEL SIGHTING!




















Yes, that's right: The ShopRite of Plainview, Long Island (Woodbury Road near South Oyster Bay Road; 516-938-0329), is carrying Lieber's Knaidel Mix for Passover. [UPDATE MARCH 26, 2007 I've also seen them at the Morton Village ShopRite, on Old Country Road in Plainview.] (As previously mentioned, Lieber's Knaidel Mix makes kosher, gluten-free potato dumplings that make very good substitutes for matzoh balls.) If going to Plainview means a big trip for you, call in advance to make sure the mix is still on the shelves.

Also in the area (along Manetto Hill Road): Fairway, Get Healthy America, and Dr. B. Well Naturally (8 Washington Avenue; 516-932-9355). Each has an well-curated stock of gluten-free foods.

Here's another kind of gf matzoh ball--the very hard kind.



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