In today’s world, a growing variety of food options have made it much easier to keep meals kosher for those subscribing to this style of food preparation and even for those just wanting to test out recipes of a kosher persuasion.
“Kosher food is about preparation,” says Holly Michelson, wife of Rabbi Brian Michelson of Reform Congregation Oheb Sholom in Wyomissing. “I often make meals as nondairy.”
This is because in keeping kosher, meats and dairy aren’t allowed to mix. And sometimes it’s just easier to make recipes with a nondairy approach if meat might be a part of the menu for lunch or dinner.
“You can make really good desserts without dairy, like pies, crisps, cakes and cookies,” Michelson adds. “People are really surprised that I’m able to make a pumpkin pie as nondairy.”
And lemon squares are one of her family’s favorite kosher desserts, she points out.
Her peach crisp incorporates nutmeg and cloves. She also makes a crave-worthy apple crisp in autumn.
Michelson notes that she uses Fleischmann’s unsalted margarine in creating many of the desserts she bakes for her family. She uses Crisco for her pie crusts. And vanilla soy or almond milk often mingles into her recipes.
MEAT MATTERS
For meats to be kosher, animals have to be killed in a humane manner, one at a time, by a Jewish butcher, says Steve Bonner, director of Boscov’s Food Services, based out of the Boscov’s location in Exeter but managing all family restaurants in Boscov’s stores around the region.
He and his staff host a kosher kitchen at the Chabad-Lubavitch of Berks County in Muhlenberg three to four days each week.
Many know pork is out as an option when it comes to kosher approaches, as only the cleanest animals with cloven hooves, who chew their cud, are allowed to be a part of meals. And blood must be fully drained from the animal, including poultry.
Bonner notes that most kosher meats are sourced from cities which are known to have kosher delis that see a lot of demand for such foods. New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore are kosher hubs, he mentions.
Some chain grocery stores in Berks County do sell a small selection of kosher meats, Bonner says.
FIN-TASTIC FISH
Kosher etiquette involves avoiding shellfish and bottom feeders, only eating fish that have fins and scales, explains Betsy Katz, a member of the board of directors for the Kesher Zion Synagogue in Reading.
“But even seafood salad, for example, can be made with a white fish rather than shellfish and seasoned with a spice such as Old Bay,” Katz says.
“Many more products are now available since people have become more health-conscious and are avoiding fats like lard and other animal fats,” she says.
Katz adds that nowadays, more food is labeled with notations of being kosher, so the average person might likely have a pantry full of kosher-labeled foods without necessarily realizing it.
“Thanksgiving and Chanukah occur at the same time this year — the only time that this will ever happen,” Katz says. “Instead of traditional mashed potatoes, there will likely be potato latkes served in Jewish homes. Being kosher does not in any way affect having a full American-style Thanksgiving feast.”
