For Jewish only: how do you......?!


Question:

For Jewish only: how do you......?

I was watching a cookery programme where a male cook went to cook and have ameal in ajEwish family home. I noticed how you have seperate utencils/cook pots etc for dairy-non meat and sepeate for meat.

This family even had a seperate wash sink for non meat and meat. I thought Kosher was just like Halal where food is permissable to eat, but Kosher is quite different as its not just food wise but how you cook and where or in what.

Muslims have Halal diet where meat is prayed and then cut. No pork etc. But in places like an nhs hospital, Mcdonalds or restaurant how would you keep to a Kosher diet?

Muslims often find it difficult to find Halal food like burgers, but it must be difficult for Jewish to find Kosher in places like this.

I am just interested and find it a little strict. I am interested and not here to offend anyone.
thank you


Answers:

I'm not Jewish but I have lived around Jews for half a century, so if nobody responds, this is my bit.
There are many forbidden foods listed in the Bible, one being the command not to "seethe the kid in its mother's milk", i.e. don't cook. To make sure that this can't happen, a Jew cannot cook or prepare meat (any meat) in the presence of milk. To make sure that milk and meat aren't contaminated by each other, Orthodox Jews use cutlery, crockery, cooking utensils which have been used for either/or
To make sure there is no cross contamination, the wealthy would have separate kitchens, others will use separate dishwashers or sinks/bowls to wash dishes and keep meat and milk in separate fridges.
An Orthodox Jew would not eat in a restaurant which did not adhere to the food laws - they are inspected and given a Certificate to operate.
It doesn't just stop there - animals must be raised correctly, must be slaughtered using a knife blade which has no blemish (if there is a nick in the blade which might mean not a clean cut, the animal is not kosher). An animal must only be slaughtered by a Certified butcher.
Because there is a commandment about not taking in blood, meat is well washed and salted to remove as much blood as possible. Parts of a beef animal cannot be eaten unless it has been properly prepared (rump steak is out unless the nerve has been removed).
You will find that an Orthodox Jewish family have 4 sets of crockery - one only used for meat, one just for milk. For Passover they have another two sets which have not had leavened foods on them.
Kosher foods do not stop at pig. All animals must have a cloven hoof and chew the cud, all fish must have fins and scales (so no shell fish, no eel), Jews cannot eat anything which "has died of itself", they cannot eat birds of prey or carnivores. The list seems endless.
Of course there are many degrees of adherence to the laws, I play safe when I have Jewish Visitors (the ultra Orthodox would not eat in my house) and do a vegetarian or fish meal on disposable plates.




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