[thechat] Kosher

[deke]

On 8 Jan 2003 at 12:15, Madhu Menon posted a message which said:

> What exactly does "kosher" mean? What are the dietary restrictions
> involved? Is chicken OK? How about pork?

Kosher means "fit to eat".  The laws are pretty much based on
sanitation and humane treatment of animals, as understood when the laws
went into force.

The no-pork rule has to do with trichnosis. The no-shellfish rule is
similar to the "months with r" rule. Milk with veal is actually the
prohibition - it seems cruel to eat the calf *and* the milk intended
for the calf in the same meal.

But there are other rules. A kosher chicken is heavily salted, inside
and out, in the preparation process; the largest producer of kosher
chicken here in Pennsylvania says more than half of their customers are
gentiles who prefer the quality.

Most jews have expanded the veal-with-milk thing to include all meat,
and it's not just eating them in the same meal, but they keep separate
plates and utensils as well. Restaurants are required to use different
sinks for cleaning vegetables and handling meats; same sorta thing.

It's not uncommon to see kosher salami as a pizza topping, although
it's not really kosher if the pizza has cheese, and it's not really
pizza if it doesn't.

Kosher has sorta evolved into cultural rituals, that extend beyond the
original intent, but as a religious ritual, kosher is relatively
innocent. The jews also practice ritual mutilation of the genitals, the
roman catholics doctrine of transubstantiation says that communion is
truly cannibalism, the baptists take "wet t-shirt contests" well beyond
t-shirts, and I dare not mention what takes place in the bell tower at
the Methodist church....

deke







In addition to the no-pork, no-shellfish, and no-milk-with-beef rule, --

If I have seen farther than others, it is by stepping on the toes of
giants