How to Plan Kosher Meals
Kosher eating refers to the rules and laws of preparation and consumption of food as according to Judaism and the Torah. Jews keep kosher for a variety of reasons, including its health benefits, but the practice is primarily religious. People who keep kosher do not eat pork, shellfish or rabbit and do not mix dairy with meat. When it comes to meat, an animal must be killed a certain way and in a location approved by a rabbi to qualify as kosher. Planning a kosher meal does not refer only to the food, but also to the kitchen and dishes used to prepare and serve the food. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Choose either dairy or meat as the theme for your meal. Never mix milk and meat, but remember eggs and fish are neutral. The separation of milk and meat does not only apply to the actual dish -- for example, a cheeseburger is not kosher -- because the entire meal must be either meat or dairy. If you are serving meat, dairy products cannot be served throughout the entire meal, including dessert. In accordance with kosher laws, if you consume dairy products, you must wait 30 minutes before consuming meat; and if you consume meat, you must wait three hours before consuming dairy. Eggs and fish can be served with dairy products or meat.
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Get paper plates and plastic silverware if you do not have two sets of dishes. A truly kosher kitchen has two refrigerators, two sets of dishes, two sets of silverware and two sets of cookware; you must have one set of everything for dairy and one set of everything for meat. Orthodox Jews will not eat off your plates or use your silverware if they have previously been used for both meat and dairy products.
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Look for unique kosher desserts. Finding a dessert without dairy can be difficult. Chocolate mousse can be kosher if made with dark chocolate, because eggs are neutral and the dish doesn't contain milk. Prepare desserts using marzipan, which is a kosher almond paste.
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Look for parve signs on food packaging to see if food in regular grocery stores can be used for a kosher meal. Parve refers to kosher food that is neither meat nor dairy; parve signs appear on packaged products, such as bread, even in non-kosher grocery stores. Look for a small, black "U" printed on the package to see if a product is parve and can be used in a kosher meal.
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Tips & Warnings
Look up kosher recipes online for new ideas for kosher meals.
Buy new cookware. Do not use cookware that has previously been used to prepare both dairy or meat. Cooking meat in a skillet that has previously cooked anything dairy at anytime is not kosher.
If you need to plan a kosher meal for orthodox Jews and do not have a kosher kitchen, consider picking up food from a kosher restaurant and serving it on paper plates. Orthodox Jews keep very strict rules about eating kosher.
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- Photo Credit eggs image by Marek Kosmal from Fotolia.com
