About Jewish Food
As minorities, Jews have developed a series of distinctive culinary traditions based on traditional Jewish dietary laws ("kashrut" or "kashruth") and influenced by the cultures in which they lived. With a few exceptions for foods that have ritual meaning (matzoh during Passover, for example), many Jewish foods are actually "kosher" versions of non-Jewish recipes.
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Jewish Meats and Seafood
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Kosher meats exclude animals that do not have cloven hooves and chew their cud, limiting dishes to domesticated meat such as beef and lamb. Seafood is also limited to fish that have both fins and scales, eliminating shellfish like lobster, shrimp, crab and other crustaceans. Meat and fish must also be ritually prepared by trained personnel and certified as kosher by a competent supervisor.
Forbidden Mixtures
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Jewish dietary laws also forbid combinations of milk and meat products (such as in cheeseburgers). Separate plates, cutlery and cooking utensils are maintained for meat and dairy, and Jews are also required to wait a certain amount of time after consuming meat (from one to six hours, depending on the community) before eating dairy foods.
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Modern Practice
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The advent of kosher substitutes for many foods has made modern Jewish cuisine much more adaptable to contemporary trends. Soy-based versions of imitation crab, for example, have made kosher sushi exceptionally popular and rice-based ice cream is commonly served after meat meals.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jewish holiday: menorah, book and sunshine image by Boguslaw Mazur from Fotolia.com
