jeudi 3 septembre 2015

Proper Options For Kosher Meals

By Daphne Bowen


Many religions have guidelines in place that restrict the things people are permitted to eat and drink, as well as the manner in which they should be consumed. Those of the Jewish faith have followed very specific rules of dining for over three thousand years. Partaking of Kosher meals requires that one have a basic knowledge and understanding of what the term actually means.

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.

Another common misconception is that food can be labeled as fit if it has been blessed by a Rabbi. While someone who is ordained in the faith and knowledgeable of all the requirements is present during every step of the processing, it is not their prayers, but an adherence to the rules, that qualifies the food as acceptable. Blessings are often said during preparation and before consumption, but they are intended to give thanks.

That a person becomes what they eat is a very simplified example of this genre's basic premise. It means that the unhealthy traits and characteristics of the food will be absorbed by the consumer's body and their spirit. By assuring that everything ingested is of the purest nature, it protects the individual against harm of that sort.

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.

All animals must be slaughtered in a ritualistic manner that is as humane to the creature as possible, administering near immediate death and inflicting no pain. The butcher should be certified in this method and the entire procedure must be observed by an individual who is ordained as a Rabbi. The full process to make the meat acceptable is very detailed and meticulous.

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.




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