Keeping Kosher 101

Kashrut is a set of dietary laws that govern what people of the Jewish faith can eat. Food that meets these requirements is deemed to be kosher, or “fit for consumption.”

Here are some basic outlines: 1) Land animals must have cloven hooves and chew their cud. This includes cattle, sheep, goats, bison, antelope, and deer, but excludes rabbits (no hooves), pigs (does not chew cud) and camels (no cloven hooves). Animals must be slaughtered in accordance with Jewish law, which prohibits causing pain to the animal. A trained Jewish butcher quickly slices across the neck with a sharp blade, believed to cause the least stress to the animal. 2) The animal cannot have died of natural causes or by another animal, and must be without disease. Carcasses are thoroughly inspected; for example, lungs are examined for holes and lesions. Meat coming from an animal with an approved set of lungs are referred to as “glatt kosher.” 3) Blood is not kosher, so it is drained after the animal’s throat is cut. Any remaining blood is drawn out when salt is sprinkled on the animal. Suet, the hard fat around the kidneys and loins, is removed. The sciatic nerve in the hip joint is also not kosher, but removing it is a labour-intensive process, so the butcher sells the entire hindquarter of the animal to a non-kosher butcher shop. This is why you won’t see cuts like the filet mignon, porterhouse, T-bone and round-cuts at a kosher steakhouse. 4) Seafood must have fins and scales, which leaves out octopus, squid, jellyfish, and eel, as well as shellfish such as lobsters, clams, shrimp, and oysters. Fish that isn’t kosher includes catfish, shark, basa, skate and monkfish. 5) Birds that aren’t hunters or scavengers are kosher. So, while hawks, eagles, and owls aren’t kosher, chicken and geese are. Turkeys weren’t known during Biblical times and thus weren’t included in the original list of birds. While it is widely approved (the COR gives it the thumbs up), some people don’t eat it. 6) Reptiles, amphibians, rodents, and insects (plus other bugs such as worms, snails, and centipedes) aren’t kosher. Since insects can be found in fresh produce, extra care must be taken when preparing vegetables, fruits, and herbs to make sure none make their way to the plate. 7) Foods such as milk, cheese, and fat derived from nonkosher animals are forbidden as well as foods containing non-kosher additives. 8) Dairy cannot be combined with poultry or meat (e.g.: a cheeseburger). However, dairy and fish are allowed (e.g.: lox and cream cheese). 9) Cooking utensils can also be deemed un-kosher due to cross-contamination. A spoon used to stir chicken soup in one pot and then used to stir milk in another would render the broth, milk, spoon and pots unkosher. If a household wants to cook with both meat and dairy, there must be separate cooking and cleaning stations, as well as cooking equipment, cutlery and plates.