1. Prepared by Tamas Lengyel , Director of Dinning Services Page 1
KOSHER
An ever-increasing number of consumers look for kosher certification. Jews, Muslims, and
Members of some other religious groups eat kosher food, as do many vegetarians, people
With food allergies or intolerances, and a large percentage of consumers who just think kosher
Foods are better or safer. When you understand a bit about kosher food, you can serve your
Customers better.
WHAT IS KOSHER FOOD?
Kosher foods are produced in accordance with Jewish law. Trained rabbis and certifying agencies
Take care of determining whether or not a food is kosher. Some of the major principles are:
• Red meat and milk in the diet should come only from animals with cloven hoofs that chew
Their cud.
• Meat and dairy products should not be mixed in a meal or in food preparation.
• Fish with fins and scales may be eaten, but not shellfish.
General Rules
1.Certainanimalsmaynotbe eatenat all.Thisrestrictionincludesthe flesh,organs,eggsandmilkof the
forbiddenanimals.
2.Of the animalsthatmay be eaten,the birdsandmammalsmustbe killedinaccordance withJewish
law.
3.All bloodmustbe drainedfrommeatand poultryorbroiledoutof it before itiseaten.
4.Certainparts of permittedanimalsmaynotbe eaten.
5.Fruitsand vegetablesare permitted,butmustbe inspectedforbugs(whichcannotbe eaten)
6.Meat (the fleshof birdsandmammals) cannotbe eatenwithdairy.Fish,eggs,fruits,vegetablesand
grainscan be eatenwitheithermeatordairy.

2. Prepared by Tamas Lengyel , Director of Dinning Services Page 2
7.Utensils(includingpotsandpansandother cookingsurfaces) thathave come intocontact withmeat
may notbe usedwithdairy,andvice versa.Utensilsthathave come intocontact withnon-kosherfood
may notbe usedwithkosherfood.Thisappliesonlywherethe contactoccurredwhile the foodwas hot.
8.Grape (Grape Juice,Win) productsmade bynon-Jewsmaynotbe eaten.
Draining of Blood
The Torah prohibitsconsumptionof blood.Thisisthe onlydietarylaw thathasa reasonspecifiedin
Torah: we do not eatbloodbecause the life of the animal (literally,the soul of the animal) iscontained
inthe blood.Thisappliesonlytothe bloodof birdsandmammals,notto fishblood.Thus,itisnecessary
to remove all bloodfromthe fleshof kosheranimals.
The firststepin thisprocessoccurs at the time of slaughter.Asdiscussedabove,shechitahallowsfor
rapiddrainingof mostof the blood.
The remainingbloodmustbe removed,eitherbybroilingorsoakingandsalting.Livermayonlybe
kosheredbythe broilingmethod,becauseithasso muchbloodinit and suchcomplex bloodvessels.
Thisfinal processmustbe completedwithin72 hoursafterslaughter,andbefore the meatisfrozenor
ground.Most butchersand all frozenfoodvendorstake care of the soakingand saltingforyou,butyou
shouldalwayscheckthiswhenyouare buyingsomeplace youare unfamiliarwith.
An eggthat containsa bloodspotmay notbe eaten.Thisisn'tverycommon,butI findthemonce ina
while.Itisa goodideato breakan egg intoa glassand checkit before youputit intoa heatedpan,
because if youput a blood-stainedeggintoaheatedpan,the panbecomesnon-kosher.If yourrecipe
callsfor multipleeggs,breakeachone intothe glassseparately,soyoudon'twaste all of the eggsif the
lastone is not kosher!
Separation of Meat and Dairy
On three separate occasions,the Torahtellsusnotto "boil a kidinits mother'smilk." The Torah
explainsthatthispassage prohibitseatingmeatanddairytogether.The rabbisextendedthisprohibition
to include noteatingmilkandpoultrytogether. Inaddition,the Talmudprohibitscookingmeatandfish
togetherorservingthemonthe same plates,because itisconsideredtobe unhealthy.Itis,however,
permissible toeatfishanddairytogether,anditis quite common(lox andcreamcheese,forexample).
It isalso permissibletoeatdairyand eggstogether.
Thisseparationincludesnotonlythe foodsthemselves,butthe utensils,potsandpanswithwhichthey
are cooked,the platesandflatware fromwhichtheyare eaten,the dishwashersordishpansinwhich
theyare cleaned,the spongeswithwhichtheyare cleanedandthe towelswithwhichtheyare dried.A
kosherhouseholdwill have atleasttwosetsof pots,pansand dishes:one formeatandone for dairy.

3. Prepared by Tamas Lengyel , Director of Dinning Services Page 3
Utensils
Utensils(pots,pans,plates,flatware,etc.,etc.) mustalsobe kosher.A utensil picksupthe kosher
"status"(meat,dairy,pareve,ortreif) of the foodthatis cookedinitor eatenoff of it,and transmits
that statusback to the nextfoodthat iscookedinit or eatenoff of it. Thus,if youcook chickensoupina
saucepan,the panbecomesmeat.If youthereafteruse the same saucepantoheatup some warmmilk,
the fleishikstatusof the panistransmittedtothe milk,andthe milchikstatusof the milkistransmitted
to the pan, makingboththe pan and the milka forbiddenmixture.
Kosherstatuscan be transmittedfromthe foodto the utensil orfromthe utensil tothe foodonlyinthe
presence of heat,(includinghotspices)orprolongedcontact,thusif youare eatingcoldfoodina non-
kosherestablishment,the conditionof the platesisnotanissue.Iknew an Orthodox rabbi whowould
eat ice creamat Friendly's,forexample,becausethe ice creamwaskosherandthe utensilsare
irrelevantforsuchcoldfood.Likewise,you coulduse the same knife toslice coldcutsandcheese,as
longas you cleanitinbetween,butthisisnotreallyarecommendedprocedure,becauseitincreases
the likelihoodof mistakes.
One mustwait a significantamountof time betweeneatingmeatand dairy.Opinionsdiffer,andvary
fromthree to six hoursaftermeat.This isbecause fattyresiduesandmeatparticlestendtoclingtothe
mouth.Fromdairy to meat,however,one needonlyrinse one'smouthandeata neutral solidlike
bread,unlessthe dairyproductinquestionisalsoof a type that tendstostick inthe mouth
Kashrut Certification
The task of keepingkosherisgreatlysimplifiedbywidespreadkashrutcertification.Productsthathave
beencertifiedaskosherare labeledwithamarkcalleda hekhsher(fromthe same Hebrew rootasthe
word"kosher") thatordinarilyidentifiesthe rabbi ororganizationthatcertifiedthe product.
Approximately3/4of all prepackagedfoodshave some kindof koshercertification,andmostmajor
brandshave reliable Orthodox certification.
Thank You for Your Attention