Kind of tasteless but educational all the same

BERRY’S KOSHER FOODSTORE

1A Holmwood Court, Stamford Hill

Tuv Taam deluxe cheese with tomato and onion roll (kosher milky mezonas), a small bag of pretzels, and a can of apple nectar

I feel apprehensive as I enter the store, even though I have emailed a Rabbi and he assured me that my custom would be welcome. The store is having a delivery and large boxes are being brought through to the back. I am constantly in the way as I ponder over what to purchase. I am hungry and it is nearly lunchtime so I decide on a filled roll.





I get a bag of pretzels and a can of drink to go with it. The can essentially has two fronts, one English, the other Hebrew.





I go to pay and hand over my three pound coins to the man behind the counter who is wearing a black skull cap. I think I must have dropped them into his hand, or maybe I put them on the counter. I can’t remember. I know that when I hold out my hand for the change it is placed not in my hand, but on the counter. I have a vague memory that a Jewish man may not shake the hand of a woman who isn’t his wife, I think maybe it has something to do with menstruation, but I might be wrong.

I take the food home to eat at my desk. The onion in the roll in strong, the cheese tasteless and the bread nondescript, just like most prepackaged sandwiches. I realise I don’t really know what kosher means, never mind milky and mezonos. The drink is sweet and fizzy, the pretzels the kind you get with a drink on an aeroplane. Out of its packaging, and perhaps more importantly, out of its religious context, the food seems ordinary—the kind of thing you might find in a university canteen.

So, what exactly does Kosher mean?

In Hebrew, ‘Kashrus’, from the root kosher (or ‘kasher’), means suitable and/or ‘pure’, thus ensuring fitness for consumption. The laws of ‘Kashrus’ are comprehensive concerning the articulation of permitted and forbidden foods. There are several aspects to these dietary rules that relate in turn to meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, and even fruit and vegetables. According to the laws of the Torah, the only types of meat that may be eaten are cattle and game that have ‘cloven hooves’ and ‘chew the cud’. A kosher species must also be slaughtered by a ‘Schochet’, a ritual slaughterer. Since Jewish Law prohibits causing any pain to animals, the slaughtering has to be effected in such a way that unconsciousness is instantaneous and death occurs almost instantaneously. Only birds that are traditionally considered kosher, such as the goose, duck, chicken, and turkey, may be eaten. All kosher milk products must derive from kosher animals. Dairy products, of course, also may not contain non-kosher additives, and they may not include meat products or derivatives. The Torah says: ‘You may not cook a young animal in the milk of its mother’ (Ex.23:19). Therefore milk and meat products may not be mixed together, nor may they be served together on the same table or eaten at the same time.

After meat meals, one must wait one, three, or six hours—depending on one’s custom—before eating dairy. After dairy consumption, no interval is required before meat may be eaten. The eggs of kosher birds are permitted as long as they do not contain blood. Therefore, eggs must be individually examined. Only fish with fins and scales may be eaten, for instance, tuna, salmon, and herring. Shellfish such as shrimps, crabs, mussels, and lobsters are forbidden. Certain laws apply specifically to the planting and sowing of vegetables, fruits, and grains. One may not sow two kinds of seeds on a field or in a vineyard.(Lev.19:19 Dtn.22:19). Fruits from trees planted within the past three years may not be eaten (Lev.19:23). Biblically, no new grain may be eaten, or bread baked from it, before one brings an ‘omer’ of the first fruits of the harvest on the second day of Passover (Lev.23:14).