Happy almost-Passover! Over the past few years many Jews have been trying to spice up the typical kugel-and-matzoh seders, and one ingredient that's grown in popularity is quinoa, a South American grain that's high in protein. But even though some boxes of the stuff are labeled "kosher for Passover" the jewry (sorry) is out on whether or not that's possible. And according to the Times, "A definitive answer is not likely to be reached until a rabbi can be dispatched to a remote mountain region of Bolivia to inspect certain quinoa operations."
Though the ingredients are easily kosher, rabbis say that the way the crop is harvested is questionable. Rabbi Menachem Genack of the Orthodox Union said, “They may be using the same equipment or bags to harvest a field of quinoa, and a field of something else. Things easily get mixed up." However, some rabbis say that as long as the quinoa is imported from a company that handles the crop exclusively, everything is fine. Then again, you could just stick with the matzoh. They don't even have a quinoa finger puppet yet.
