Kosher

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Kosher refers to food that complies with kashrut, the traditional Jewish dietary laws. Stemming from initial prohibitions on eating blood,^[1] ritually unclean animals, and a somewhat cryptic passage that states not to "boil a kid in its mother's milk", kashrut rules developed in later, post-Torah tradition to include many of the following rules:

• Mammals may only be eaten if they chew the cud and have a cloven hoof (horses and pigs are notably banned). Carnivorous mammals and wild game which has not been slaughtered according to Jewish law are also banned.
• Only fish with fins and scales may be eaten; shellfish, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans, and insects are not allowed.
• Birds must not be carrion-eaters or birds of prey.
• Meat and milk may not be mixed in the kitchen or on the table. (However, fish, eggs, and plant-based foods are known as pareve, meaning "neither", and may be eaten freely with either milk or meat. ^[2]
• Animals must be killed with a single stroke of the knife and drained of blood; animals not killed in this matter are not acceptable, nor are animals that are diseased or damaged.
• The sciatic nerve is forbidden; some Jewish butchers remove this, but others simply dispose of the hindquarters of the animal.
• Passover regulations are somewhat more complex, forbidding leavened bread, beer, or anything else that can ferment. Rice and corn are generally up for debate -- Sephardim are fine with them, Ashkenazim usually are not.

For the most part, kosher regulations are highly complex and differently enforced depending on the community; on the whole, Sephardic kitchens are less strict than Ashkenazic, and some Reform and Reconstructionist Jews obey kashrut only during Passover.

Contents 1 Kosher in slang 2 See also 3 Sources 4 Footnotes

[edit] Kosher in slang

In common parlance, "kosher" is used to mean "okay" or "cool" - as in "don't tase me, bro -- it's not kosher!"

[edit] See also

• Halal
• Vegetarianism

[edit] Sources

• Usenet rec.food.cuisine.jewish Kosher FAQ
• Roden, Claudia, The Book of Jewish Food, New York: Knopf, 1996, ISBN 0394532589.

[edit] Footnotes

1. ↑ Deuteronomy 12:20-28 [1]
2. ↑ In practice, kosher kitchens keep separate sets of cookware and plates, and kosher restaurants are traditionally either dairy or flayshig (meat).