Yes, even bacon can be kosher this holiday
SECAUCUS, N.J. – Holidays are a time for traditions — turkey, football and trying to avoid fights with your relatives. And for Jewish families and others who eat kosher, some of those are getting an update.
Thanksgiving dining options are moving farther than ever before. Now there are choices that offer new twists on standard kosher fare or venture into uncharted waters — from caviar to French macarons.
Yes, even bacon — turkey bacon. Kosher food is now a $12.5 billion business, says data tracker Lubicom Marketing Consulting, which has staged the trade show Kosherfest since 1987. Annual sales of kosher products increased 12% between 2014 and 2016. There are now about 240,000 kosher-certified packaged goods on the market.
At this year’s Kosherfest, an estimated 6,000 attendees visited the close to 400 vendor booths to learn about everything from Himalayan sea salt and international wines to hummus flavors and gluten-free desserts, Lubicom President Menachem Lubinsky said.
Biblically-based kosher laws include directives like slaughtering animals in a particular way and not eating milk and meat together. Pork and shellfish are out. And certifying agencies with names such as the Orthodox Union, OK Labs, Kof-K and Star K supervise the manufacturing process to ensure foods follow Jewish law. Products from Cheerios to Tropicana orange juice are marked with the organizations’ logos.
Kosher consumers include not only Jews, but Muslims and others who follow their own, similar dietary laws. Then, there are those who are concerned about ingredient accuracy due to allergies or just believe kosher is higher quality. For them, kosher dining could mean new options that go way past lox, chicken soup and gefilte fish.
Here are 10 examples of foods at Kosherfest that might surprise you:
Bacon
OK, so it’s turkey bacon. The Jack’s Gourmet version is the quintessential non-kosher food smoked and salted to cook up crispy. The product description includes the term BLT — in quotation marks.
Printed matzo
This Passover, an ancient food gets a uniquely 21st-century twist — printable matzo. On sale starting Monday, the holiday unleavened bread, which looks like a large cracker, now comes decorated with colorful edible ink or
custom-printed with the photo, logo or design, whatever the customer wants.
Boozy fruit spreads
Manischewitz wine is not an ingredient in this line of jams, but they are defintely something wine lovers might consider. A company called Beit-Yitzhak has alcohol-infused fruit spreads in five flavors, such as cranberry and vodka, cherry and whiskey, and apple and martini. The company says the jams don’t contain enough alcohol to cause a buzz.
Curry sauce
Tradition says some of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel wound up in India, so kosher curry makes cultural sense. Mikee is offering up various flavors, including coconut, lentil and spinach.
French macarons
This colorful trendy cookie now comes in a kosher version. Mais oui! L’esti’s Desserts’ sweet treats have little to do with the classic Passover version of the macaroon — note the extra O — which is made of coconut. Among the flavors are crème brûlée, cotton candy and espresso.
Roasted chestnuts
Um, isn’t that Christmas? True, but this organic version has little to do with the Nat King Cole song. Galil Foods makes its bags of the shelled snacks year-round.
Caviar
Not all whitefish winds up on ba- gels. Romanoff sells caviar versions — Black Whitefish, Red Whitefish and Red Salmon — that are exactly like their non-kosher cousins. Minus the cream cheese.
Polochintas
Stumped you, right? It’s the Hungarian version of a crepe, also known as a blini or a blintz, too. Bubby’s makes polochintas in only a cheese or a sugarfree cheese version. For now.
Cold brew
Wake up and smell the kosher coffee. This buzzy drink by Rise Brewing Co. is on trend; it’s not only Starbucks that is going nitro.
Spanakopita
Are the laws of kosher Greek to you? No worries when it comes to this traditional offering from the Hellenic Republic. Kontos Foods is the company behind this savory spinach-cheese dish.