Kosher items in non-kosher restaurants

[Pam R]

...I am very aware of the fact that there is a perception that kosher food is better and healthier.  I've been asked several times in interviews why kosher food was healthier.   I'm not sure where this idea came from.

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I know quite a few non-Jews who believe that kosher meat is cleaner. I had an aunt who only bought Empire brand chickens and turkey because of this perception. And she wasn't Jewish in the least.

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I agree - lots of people do believe it's cleaner. Part of this could be that many animals that don't pass kosher standards go on to enter the regular food market (as Gifted Gourmet's quote upthread states).

There are a couple of other issues. Generally, poultry goes through a hot-water process to rid the bird of it's feathers. When processing kosher chickens, hot-water is not allowed, so it's done with cold water. This means that less of the feathers actually get removed, but the chickens are kept at a lower temperature, and may account for some differences in the final product.

And, there's the salting step. To draw out all excess blood, meat must be salted - which actually brines the meat. I've heard many people say that kosher meat is 'tastier' - this could be why.

I should disclose here, that I own a kosher food store - so I'm all for everybody buying kosher meat.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Kosher meat is considered safer and cleaner than conventional meat. Jewish law requires rigorous inspections, and kosher beef inspectors reject about 50 times as many animals as USDA inspectors do. The animals must be active and healthy before slaughter, and some people consider the slaughtering process to be more humane and hygienic.

But safer, cleaner meat doesn't guarantee that it's better for you: Kosher animals are raised on conventional farms, which often administer growth hormones and antibiotics. Kosher hot dogs can be loaded with nitrates and saturated fat. If health is your goal, choose organic kosher meat.

source for this quotation

So, how people view or perceive kosher meat, is an area which has many shades of gray ...

[KOK]

Bringing back to the OP's question (sorta).  It seems to me that the only people complaining about something being labeled "Kosher" that is really treyf is someone who doesn't keep kosher to begin with.  Because a truly observant person wouldn't be in the restaurant to begin with, and would already know that it wasn't kosher.

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Very good point, but it doesn't always help. There's a yearly fundraiser on Christmas Eve in D.C. called The Gefilte Fish Gala. When it was created (as an alternative to The Matzoh Ball), the intended name was The Kosher Christmas Party. The Jewish newspaper in D.C. wouldn't run an ad for it unless Kosher certification could be shown. The event happened to fall on Friday night that year, and no truly observant person would have been there anyway as it's the start of the sabbath, but the newspaper refused to run the ad if it was called The Kosher Christmas Party so the name was changed last minute to the Gefilte Fish Gala (link for last year's below).

It's HARD being Jewish, Kosher or not.

Kevin

http://www.gefiltefishgala.com/

[Swisskaese]

I think calling a Jewish fundraiser party a Kosher Christmas Party is really tacky.

What is so hard about being Jewish? You don't have to keep Kosher if you don't want to. Nobody is forcing you. If you want to cater to a specific market, then you have to follow the rules. Otherwise, you can do what ever you want.

Using Kosher items in a non-Kosher restaurant doesn't bother me, but calling something Kosher-style does bother me. There is no such thing as Kosher-style. What does that really mean? The food is from Eastern Europe?

Edited June 30, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[KOK]

I think calling a Jewish fundraiser party a Kosher Christmas Party is really tacky.

What is so hard about being Jewish? You don't have to keep Kosher if you don't want to. Nobody is forcing you. If you want to cater to a specific market, then you have to follow the rules. Otherwise, you can do what ever you want.

Using Kosher items in a non-Kosher restaurant doesn't bother me, but calling something Kosher-style does bother me. There is no such thing as Kosher-style. What does that really mean? The food is from Eastern Europe?

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If you think it's tacky, you're certainly entitled to your opinion.

There's nothing hard about being Jewish, but I obviously failed in my humor attempt by simply using a smiley.

And you're right. There is NO such thing as Kosher-style.

Happy, merry!

Kevin