The World of Orthodox Judaism by Eli W. Schlossberg

Author:Eli W. Schlossberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jason Aronson, Inc.
Published: 1996-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

WHO ELSE EATS KOSHER . . . AND

WHAT IS KOSHER?

Orthodox Jews always eat strictly kosher food. But, for a variety of reasons, others now actively seek out kosher products. These people include Moslems, Seventh Day Adventists, vegetarians, people with dairy allergies, and members of the general public. Although not all kosher foods are particularly healthy, many items on the market that bear kosher certification are perceived as healthy because they generally contain no animal fats. Perception means a great deal, and consumer perceptions have made kosher a hot concept in the 1990s. This trend is putting more kosher items on supermarket shelves as manufacturers seek to expand their share of the consumer market by gaining kosher certification.

More kosher products on grocery shelves has meant more tasting and less yearning for people such as me. As an observant Jew, I know I can only frequent kosher restaurants and fast food eateries that operate under strict kosher supervision. Growing up as a kid in the 1960s, I often felt a yearning as I walked past a MacDonalds (Wow, what would it be like to have a Big Mac?), Pizza Hut (Umm . . . cheese and pepperoni topping), Dunkin’ Donuts, or a Chinese carry-out and wondered what it would be like to be able to partake of all the culinary experiences of the fast food world. Would I ever get to taste the Whopper? But today, those experiences are much less remote.

Certain cities pose few problems for the kosher epicure. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore, and other metropolitan areas that have large populations of Orthodox Jews have a diverse array of kosher eating establishments. These include MacDonalds look-alikes, serving all-beef patties; pizza shops; Chinese, Italian, Japanese, French, and other specialized restaurants; and even kosher Dunkin’ Donuts franchises. Kosher food operations are opening in many cities in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Israel. Supermarket shelves are stocked with kosher-approved products bearing symbols such as the , the , the , the , to name the best-known of the more than 200 registered symbols of kosher supervision agencies.

Kosher food no longer means only gefilte fish, matzoh, and borscht. Today, kosher food includes gourmet pastries, pastas, olive oils, Swiss chocolates, chilies, salsas, chips, and confections, all bearing reliable kosher certification. In recent years, imitation crab, lobster, and bacon strips have given new options to the Jewish palate, but the tofu-topped burger that was supposed to be the next best thing to the cheese Whopper never really made it. For the gourmet kosher cook, virgin olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, Dijon mustard, and even balsamic vinegars with kosher certification are available. Those keeping kosher can satisfy their taste buds and their religious scruples at the same time with household names like Entenmanns, Carvel, Friendly, Häagen-Dazs, Drake’s, Stella D’Oro, Pepperidge Farms, Celestial Teas, M & M’s, and even Godiva chocolates. All of these companies are on a rapidly growing world-wide list of companies producing foods under kosher supervision.

This kosher cornucopia is becoming widely available. For example, one large kosher supermarket in Baltimore stocks over 10,000 kosher products.

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