Saturday, September 5, 2015

Kosher Meals Follow Strict Guidelines

By Daphne Bowen


There are several religions that regulate what their members can or cannot eat as well as how those dishes should be prepared and consumed. For more than three thousand years, the Jewish faith has had some of the strictest dining restrictions. Partaking of only Kosher meals means that one must have a clear understanding of exactly what that entails.

Derived from kasher, a Hebrew word meaning something that is suitable and fit, the term has come to represent foods that are pure enough to be acceptable for consumption. The holy book of the faith, The Torah, is believed to be directly delivered by God and contains the rules and guidelines for criteria for this type of dining. The results should be good for the spirit as well as the body as they have been divinely instructed.

Unlike the French, Chinese and Cajun styles of cooking, this is more of a way of living much as being vegan or vegetarian are except based in religion. As long as the materials are of the approved types and processing is according to the rules, practically anything can be prepared in this genre. Likewise, those foods generally considered Jewish, such as matzoh balls, bagels and knishes, might become unfit if not created properly.

Though it is commonly believed that a Rabbinical blessing is what makes the food pure, that is a huge misconception. A Rabbi must observe each of the steps performed from harvest or slaughter through the preparation, it is strict compliance the the rules, not praying, that qualifies the items and gets them certified. Prayers said before eating and at other times are for giving thanks to God for providing nourishment.

The concept that one is what one eats is a very basic way of thinking about this type of food preparation. It is believed that a person's body and spirit may take on the various characteristics and traits of the items they consume. Assuring that an individual partakes of only the purest forms of nourishment is the biggest reason the rules are so stringent.

For meat to be acceptable, it must meet some very tight restrictions. Animals that hunt for their food, eat from the bodies of dead creatures, or consume the waste product of others, are all explicitly forbidden. Only birds that are typically raised such as chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys, and game or cattle that both eat plants and have split hooves, are deemed worthy of consideration.

Animals are slaughtered in a very specific manner designed to be as quick and painless as possible so that the creature feels no undue distress and death does not linger. Only religiously certified butchers may perform the ritual and a Rabbi must always observe the procedure. Only when the process details have been meticulously followed will the meat be deemed acceptable.

Firm conditions are set upon non meat items as well. They include such things as dictating how all bounty from the Earth is to be planted, tended and reaped, that the only edible fish are those with both scales and fins, and demanding a very close inspection of all dishes containing even minute bits of dairy. Rules are also placed upon how foods can be prepared and served, and which may not be consumed together.




About the Author:



0 comments :

Dí lo que piensas...

 
twitter facebook google plus linkedin rss feed email