Kosher Specialty and Gourmet Food Key Terms

Understanding food-related kosher terminology

Depending on your clientele, it may be considered more important to understand kosher specialty and gourmet food key terms than to understand the terminology related to any other specialty foods. For your customers who are following extensive and complicated Jewish dietary laws (or kashrut), it is vital you stock the right foods at the right time. Since your customers want to know the food you carry is perfectly acceptable according to their religious laws, it's important for you to understand some of the nuances of kosher food. With that in mind, here are some terms with which you may not be familiar.

 

Batul

Batul means nullified. The Talmud allows that, in specific instances, a small amount of non-kosher food is acceptable if mixed in with kosher food. However, the unacceptable food must make up less than one sixtieth of the whole food.
Try: OuKosher.org discusses the nuances of batul in regard to liquor in "Hard Truths About Hard Liquor." See paragraph seven.

Cholov Yisroel

Cholov Yisroel refers to situations in which dairy products (such as cheese, milk powder and other foods) are under complete Rabbinical supervision. A designation of Cholov Yisroel ensures the dairy product is absolutely kosher.
Try: Star-K Kosher Certification discusses Cholov Yisroel in-depth.

Kasher

To kasher means to make kosher. Often, this word is used in regard to salting and soaking kosher poultry and meat. It may also be used to describe the koshering of non-kosher utensils or kitchens.
Try: For more background information on kashering food and other forms of kashering, visit WiseGEEK.

Mevushal

Mevushal is a term related to Kosher wine. Mevushal literally means "cooked," and at one time, all mevushal wine was boiled, making it pretty tasteless. However, today, mevushal wine is usually brought to a high temperature and then swiftly cooled so the flavor of the wine isn't ruined.
Try: KosherWineInfo.com offers complete information about what makes a wine mevushal.

Pareve

Food that is pareve is neutral. In other words, the food contains neither poultry, dairy, meat nor their derivatives. Pareve foods include vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes and eggs.
Try: The Chicago Rabbinical Council website offers a discussion of what pareve really means and whether those with dairy allergies can eat all pareve products.

Yoshon

Yoshon literally means "old." Yoshon is the old grain (grain that takes root before Passover) that is thoroughly permissible to eat. If a food is called yoshon, it has yoshon grains in it.
Try: OU.org discusses in detail the idea of yoshon and how it applies to various foods.

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