50 Fun Facts About Kosher Food

What does the word 'kosher' literally mean?

It is the Ashkenazi pronunciation of Hebrew kashér.

What is the Yiddish-derived word for food that is not kosher?

Pasul is the opposite of kosher for objects; treif originally meant 'torn'.

Which two books of the Torah supply most of the basic laws of kashrut?

The Torah does not give reasons for most of the rules; some scholars class them as chukim, laws with no rational explanation.

Which two features must a mammal have to be kosher?

The camel, hyrax and hare fail on hooves; the pig fails on rumination.

Why specifically is the pig excluded as non-kosher?

The camel, hyrax and hare are excluded for the opposite reason: they ruminate but lack split hooves.

What must a fish have to be kosher?

That rules out all shellfish and any scaleless fish.

Why is sturgeon considered non-kosher, even though it is a finned fish?

Kosher fish need fins and easily detachable scales.

What is the only kosher invertebrate?

Most communities lack a clear tradition about which locusts qualify, so few Jews eat them.

What is the ritual slaughterer who performs shechita called?

He must be trained and certified, and doubles as inspector, shochet u'bodek.

What is the ultra-sharp knife used for kosher slaughter called by Ashkenazi Jews?

The shochet runs a fingernail along the blade before and after slaughter to check for the slightest nick.

What is described as the most basic eating rule in the Torah?

Meat is soaked and salted to draw out blood; the blood-rich liver is grilled over an open flame instead.

Which organ, being very rich in blood, is grilled over an open flame rather than salted?

Roasted meat in general needs no prior salting because fire purges the blood.

Roughly how long is salted meat left to drain during kashering?

Coarse-grained kosher salt is used, then rinsed away before cooking.

Which biblical patriarch's injury is the reason the sciatic nerve is removed from kosher meat?

Genesis 32:32 records that his was damaged wrestling an angel; the removal process is called nikkur.

Why are kosher butchers often only able to sell cuts from the forequarters?

Nikkur experts strip out chelev fats, tendons and blood vessels before meat is sold.

Which biblical command is the source of the ban on mixing meat and dairy?

The Torah repeats it three times, and Jews may not benefit from such mixtures in any way, even by selling them.

According to the Shulchan Aruch, how long should one wait after eating meat before consuming dairy?

Customs range from one to six hours; brushing the teeth in between is generally discouraged.

What are the Yiddish words for meat and dairy foods and utensils?

Observant homes keep two sets of dishes; historian Goitein noted the Cairo Geniza never mentions such a divided kitchen.

What is a food that is neither meat nor dairy called?

Fish, grains and produce all qualify, and bread is generally kept this way so it can go with either.

Which food is classed as neutral, neither meat nor dairy, despite being an animal product?

Fish and fish gelatin count the same way, as does gelatin from ritually slaughtered kosher animals.

According to historian David Kraemer, when did keeping separate sets of dishes for meat and milk develop?

Earlier families may simply have waited overnight before reusing a pot for the other kind of food.

Which large African animal was ruled eligible to be kosher in 2008, though it is not slaughtered because it is too costly?

It has split hooves, chews the cud, and its milk curdles; restraining one for shechita is impractical.

Which bird is the sole exception to the rule that a bird needs an established tradition (masorah) before Jews may eat it?

Jews began eating it without a tradition because it shows all the kosher signs: an extra back toe, a crop and a peelable gizzard.

What word describes a bird that is not kosher because it is a predator?

The Torah lists 24 forbidden bird types, but which species they are is disputed.

What is a hechsher?

Muslims, dairy-allergic people and vegans also use these labels to check ingredients.

Which was the first independent kosher certification agency, founded in 1923?

Certification expanded in the 1930s as brands like Coca-Cola sought it to widen their market.

The 'Big Five' US kosher agencies certify more than what share of kosher food sold in America?

They are the OU, OK, Kof-K, Star-K and CRC.

What image did 6th-century Jews near Acre stamp on their dough to mark it kosher, according to a clay stamp found in 2011?

An 11th-century Cairo Geniza certificate vouched for cheese made on the Mount of Olives.

What does 'glatt' mean in Yiddish?

It refers to lungs free of adhesions; the Hebrew equivalent is halak.

Which organ is inspected for adhesions in every kosher-slaughtered mammal?

Ashkenazi and Sephardi customs differ on how to treat lung adhesions in cattle.

What makes 'mevushal' wine special?

Heated wine was never used for pagan libations, so touching it does not disqualify it.

Kosher wine in the United States long meant sweet wine from which grape?

Wineries founded by Jewish immigrants to New York made it; dry premium kosher wines took off with Israel's revival in the 1980s.

Which two large kosher wine producers and importers are both based in the American Northeast?

Kosher wines are now made in Napa Valley and Saint-Émilion as well as Israel.

How many cups of wine does everyone drink at the Passover Seder?

Kiddush blessings over wine also open Shabbat and other holidays.

What is chametz, forbidden during Passover?

Baking soda and baking powder are not chametz; households sell or burn theirs before the festival.

What are kitniyot, which Ashkenazi Jews traditionally avoid at Passover but Sephardi Jews eat?

Reform Judaism has permitted them since the 19th century and the Conservative movement followed in 2015.

What is bedikat chametz?

The Talmud derives from the Torah that the search be done by candlelight, so it happens at night; the burning follows next morning.

Why do Sephardic families often simply wash their year-round glassware for Passover use?

Ovens, by contrast, are kashered by self-cleaning at top heat or blowtorching until they glow red, a process called libun gamur.

Why did American professional chefs start favouring kosher salt in the 1980s?

On television it also looked more attractive, and recipes since about 2010 mostly specify it.

What common additive does kosher salt usually lack?

It is coarse salt used in cooking rather than at table, and takes its name from koshering meat.

Which hot dog brand launched a 1960s campaign declaring 'we answer to a higher authority'?

Lender's Bagels, Maxwell House, Manischewitz and Empire also expanded the kosher shelf in those decades.

Kosherfest founder Menachem Lubinsky estimates US kosher product sales at roughly how much?

He also estimates as many as 14 million kosher consumers in the US, many of them not Jewish.

What did the Israel Defense Forces decide in 2014 about the supervision of its kitchens?

The first women kosher inspectors were certified in Israel that year.

What did the Orthodox Jewish scientist David Macht test in 1953 to argue that biblical food laws had scientific foresight?

He reported the 'unclean' extracts always inhibited growth more; most traditional scholars reject health-based explanations of kashrut outright.

Which medieval philosopher, in The Guide for the Perplexed, was among the first to suggest health benefits from the food laws?

He held that all Torah statutes are decrees but that reasons should be sought whenever possible.

What is 'orlah'?

Leviticus 19:23 applies it both in Israel and the diaspora, including to grapes and wine.

Which mixture is considered a health risk (sakanah) in Jewish law, though neither food is forbidden alone?

It sits alongside rabbinic bans on non-Jewish milk, cheese, wine and cooked food, several of which were enacted over intermarriage fears.

Which two vegetables are singled out as needing checks for insect infestation before use?

Procedures vary by species, growing conditions and rabbi; hydroponic produce raises questions of its own.

What proportion rule is invoked to argue that a genetically modified salmon remains kosher?

The foreign gene accounts for less than 1/60 of the animal, some scholars argue.

Which whiskered fish is the classic example of one excluded for lacking scales?

Shellfish and other non-fish water creatures are excluded too.