Ashkenazi Jews (of Eastern and Central European origin) abstain from eating all grains and legumes during Passover, while people of Sephardic extraction (Mediterranean and Middle Eastern) include certain ones.
Jews from Morocco, for example, highlight fresh fava beans on the Passover table; those from Persia, India and Iraq serve rice at their seder dinners.
What's permitted depends also on people's degree of observance. The longest list of forbidden foods appears in households of fervently religious Ashkenazi Jews and might include other foods related to legumes and grains such as green beans, fresh peas, soybean oil and corn oil. Conservative and Reform Jews observe fewer restrictions than Orthodox ones.
In families of mixed origins, these differences can lead to culture clashes, like the first time my Polish-born mother noticed a platter of rice at the seder prepared by my Indian sister-in-law.
A Connecticut rabbi caused a controversy when he announced to his congregation that for Passover he had decided to follow the Sephardic custom.
