Kosher
Kosher food follows Jewish dietary law, which limits the animals you can eat, keeps meat and dairy apart and sets rules for how food is made.
Also called Kashrut, Kashrus.
Kosher means "fit" or "proper" in Hebrew. Kosher food follows kashrut, the Jewish dietary laws. The rules cover which animals may be eaten, how they are slaughtered and prepared, and how meat and dairy are kept apart. Observance varies a lot between people and communities, so when you cook for someone who keeps kosher, ask what they need.
How to use it
The main rules are:
- Meat: only mammals that both chew the cud and have split hooves, such as cattle, sheep, goats and deer. Pork and rabbit are not kosher. Poultry is limited to traditional birds such as chicken, turkey, duck and goose.
- Slaughter: a trained person slaughters the animal in a set way, then the meat is soaked and salted to draw out blood.
- Fish: only fish with both fins and scales. Shellfish and other seafood are not kosher.
- Meat and dairy: never cooked or eaten together. Observant homes keep separate pots, plates and utensils for each and wait between eating them.
- Pareve: foods that are neither meat nor dairy, such as eggs, fish, fruit, vegetables and grains. They can go with either.
Packaged food carries the symbol of a certifying agency. A "D" or the word "dairy" next to it means the product contains dairy or was made on dairy equipment.
Substitutes
- Gelatin: agar or gelatin certified kosher. Agencies differ on which gelatin they accept.
- Butter or cream in a meat dish: olive oil, or a pareve plant-based spread or cream.
- Wine: kosher wine, or stock and a little vinegar.
Common mistakes
- Serving a cream sauce with chicken, or cheese on a beef burger.
- Thinking "kosher salt" makes a dish kosher. Kosher salt is coarse salt, named for its use in salting meat. Any recipe can use it.
- Reading pareve as a milk allergy claim. Pareve is a religious category, and products labeled pareve have been found to contain milk. People with a milk allergy should still read the ingredients list and talk to their doctor about what is safe.
In recipes
A recipe tagged kosher uses no forbidden animals and does not mix meat with dairy. It assumes you buy kosher meat and certified products. Passover has extra rules, including no leavened grain products, which are beyond an everyday kosher recipe.
Related terms
- HalalHalal means permitted under Islamic law. In food it rules out pork and alcohol and requires meat from animals slaughtered in a set way.
- GelatinGelatin is a setting agent made from animal collagen, sold as sheets or powder. How to bloom it, dissolve it and get a smooth set every time.
- AgarAgar is a plant-based gelling agent made from red seaweed. It sets jellies firmly at room temperature and works where gelatin cannot.
- Dairy-freeDairy-free food contains no milk or anything made from milk, including butter, cheese, cream, whey and casein. Here is how to cook and shop for it.
- Milk allergyA milk allergy is an immune reaction to milk proteins such as casein and whey. It is not lactose intolerance, and lactose-free milk is not safe for it.