Basic Kosher

Kosher is very simple.  There are only a very few basic rules from which all the daily tedium are derived.

1)  Milk and meat cannot, under any circumstances, be mixed together.  They cannot be mixed together at the ingredient level and if one is having a meat meal, *nothing* dairy can be on the menu, including a glass of milk.  Oh, and poultry, though obviously different from red meat, is generally treated as meat, though exceptions can be made.

1A)  Meat can only be eaten from certain animals.  These animals must both chew the cud and have two-part hooves.  All others are non-kosher.  Further, no blood may be consumed.  Therefore, meat must be painstakingly drained of as much blood as possible.  The eating of cuts containing certain major nerves is also prohibited.  A skilled kosher butcher can remove these nerves and render the cuts kosher but for the most part, these cuts are avoided.

1B)  The meat of birds that have feathers and can fly is kosher.  Birds that are not capable of flight, such as the emu, are prohibited.

1C)  Fish must have scales and fins and they may not be bottom feeders.  All other fishes and shellfishes are prohibited.

2)  Pork, shellfish, and some fishes are not kosher.  G*D designated them as non-kosher for reasons known only to Him.  Therefore, we do not eat them in any form.

3)  Label reading is important.  I recently picked up a can of shortening, saw "meat oils" on the label and figured that was okay as long as I didn't mix the shortening with milk - that is until I read the actual ingredients and discovered the "meat oils" were comprised chiefly of lard (pork fat).  Many spaghetti sauces have cheese in them, even if cheese is not declared on the label.  If there's cheese in the sauce, it cannot be served with meat.  Kosher certifications are important if one is buying lots of prepackaged groceries!

4)  Fresh produce does not need a kosher certificate.  It does, however, need to be washed free of any insects or bugs.

5)  Jews live on every continent and make up small percentages of every major ethnic group.  The rules of kashrut adapt themselves to every continent and all available foods.  

This blog assumes that all ingredients used are certified kosher by a major certifying authority.  If kosher is not important to you, you don't have to worry about that.  But you won't find pork, shellfish, or exotic game recipes here.  My idea is to showcase yummy food that just happens to conform to the rules of kashrut.

I'm a convert.  Therefore, the food I grew up with was not kosher.  Further, I grew up in a part of the country that has a tiny Jewish population.  Therefore, in the years since I began to identify with the Jewish people, I have become quite adept at altering recipes to fit within the boundaries of kashrut.  Doing so is both fun and challenging and I hope you enjoy the recipes posted here.