The stereotype of the Jewish family who keeps kosher is a fashion statement – a father dressed in black wearing a fedora, paot (side locks of hair), and tzitzit (tasseled buttonless undershirt); the mother in a wig and a dress “down to her toes” – the traditional garb of Orthodox Jews.
“Some people think you have to look like you just got off the boat to keep kosher,” says Rabbi Paul Plotkin of Temple Beth Am, a conservative synagogue in Margate.
According to the Jewish religion, the laws that govern what a Jew can and cannot eat were revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai by God. In general, these commandments allow Jews to eat all fruits and vegetables and meat from animals that both “chew the cud” and have cloven hooves. All others – pigs, rabbits and beasts of prey – are forbidden.
Only fish that have both fins and scales can be eaten; blood is forbidden. Only animals killed by a ritual slaughterer with a razor-sharp knife in a single slash can be consumed.
Also meat and dairy foods cannot be eaten together, prepared in the same pots or served on the same dishes, according to Claudia Roden in The Book of Jewish Food (Knopf, 1996).
Orthodox Jews usually are raised in kosher homes and follow these commandments verbatim – they are laws passed from generation to generation. But today, more and more young professionals in Plotkin’s as well as other conservative congregations are turning to these laws of kashrut – often for the first times in their lives.
But unlike the Orthodox Jews, the conservatives let their consciences be their guides when implementing the rules. “How much you do is a personal thing – you do what you feel is right,” says Belina Avner of Coral Springs who has been keeping a kosher kitchen since 1991.
The increased interest in things Jewish among Jews began in the 1970s with the baal t’shuva movement, which literally means “one who has repented.” Thus a baal t’shuvah is a person who wants to reconnect with Judaism on any level.
The 1970s, says Plotkin, were days when Americans showed a renewed interest in their ethnicity – no matter what it might be. This resulted in such ideas as “Black is Beautiful” and cultural expressions such as Fiddler on the Roof, a play about a Jewish village in Russia uprooted by the pogroms before the turn of the century.
Plotkin sees the current renewed interest in Judaism and things spiritual – including keeping kosher – as the second wave of this movement.
But why now in the middle of the 1990s?
A lot has to do with the facts of life at the end of the 20th century including corporate downsizing, aging parents, Baby Boomers facing their own mortality, the end of the traditional family and such age-old questions as the meaning of life.
“In the ’70s and ’80s, we all learned that materialism wasn’t fulfilling. Drugs, sex and rock ‘n’ roll were great when we were 18, but they don’t work when we are 40 years old trying to raise a family. Now people are looking for spiritual fulfillment,” Plotkin says.
At such a time, many turn to religion and Jews are no different. Plotkin describes religious commitment for Jews as a ladder. The first rung might be going to synagogue every week. The step up to the next rung might mean becoming involved in the charitable work of the synagogue. Then, to rise another rung, some Jews might choose to keep a kosher kitchen.
Avner says keeping kosher brings Judaism into her everyday life and recalls something her mother-in-law once told her: “Keeping kosher is a reaffirmation that there’s something special about being Jewish every time you do the dishes and have to keep the pots and silverware separate.”
Plotkin says, “A kosher home is a powerful ritual that affects you at an important time – when you eat. It says, ‘This home is different’; every bite you take is a statement that reinforces the distinctiveness of being Jewish.”
Carolyn Lipman of Parkland, who converted from Catholicism to become a Jew and has been keeping a kosher kitchen since 1986, has taken her kosher living one step further. In 1989, she became a kosher vegetarian.
“I started reading more about kosher food and how the animals are ritually slaughtered and I became uncomfortable that they had to go to all that bother to do a humane slaughter. Why bother eating fish, chicken or beef at all?” she says.
Even after her divorce, Lipman has remained Jewish. “I felt it was a lifetime commitment,” she says.
In the case of Ed and Ellen Cohen of Boca Raton, their children were the impetus for the family becoming kosher in 1991. Their two sons go to Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton where only kosher food is served. So the children would not be confused about their religion or family’s principles, the family became kosher at home, too. “We are not Orthodox, but keeping kosher is one more step into our religion,” Ellen says.
Ellen also feels keeping a kosher home is important for her children because it gives them a sense of identity.
“Today high school students often have no values or idea of who they are. They have no traditions to hold onto. So they look for groups to belong to. Kids left on their own join a gang or go to the mall _ they don’t go to church. Religion gives a person a feeling of self and worth,” she says.
Another reason people are keeping kosher now is because it’s easier than ever before. Consider the Kosher Korp, a group of women at Temple Beth Am that helps families kosher their kitchens and offers moral support and advice. Eileen Houston of Margate, who became kosher in 1995 and helped found the group, says, “We are there to hold your hand through the process.”
And quite a process it is.
It includes, in part, dunking metal pots and utensils in boiling water. To kosher the stove top, you heat the burners until they glow for 30 minutes and pour boiling water over the areas around the burners. The oven is koshered by running the self-cleaning oven, waiting 24 hours and running it again. Cleaning the refrigerator is done with kosher soap and water and the counters with boiling water.
You use separate tubs or trays in a single sink when you are washing or soaking dairy or meat utensils. Koshering the dishwasher is done by running it once to clean it, waiting 24 hours and running it again without soap and then deciding whether to use it for meat or dairy dishes.
You also must purchase at least two sets of cookware, utensils, plates and silverware. It also means stocking your pantry and refrigerator with only kosher foods (foods prepared under rabbinical supervision).
This process can be done in days or can take months. And some people we spoke to spent $1,000 doing it although they all admit you can do it for much less.
“Housewares departments love to see us coming,” Houston quipped.
Ellen Cohen says she was leery of becoming kosher because, as a teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas School in Parkland, she thought it might take too much time. But then her family’s house burned down and she spent three weeks with kosher friends. “I could see being kosher was no big deal. It was easy,” she says. When she built a new house, her kitchen was kosher.
Houston wondered how her husband who was raised Lutheran would take to her kosher regimen. But she soon discovered that because her husband had been in the military for 30 years he said, “It’s just another set of rules to live by.” And he’s often the one that remembers some of the prohibitions Houston forgets.
Avner says her husband was raised in a kosher home until World War II and his mother could no longer get kosher meat. “She finally had to stop being kosher to feed her family,” Avner says.
Of course, that’s not a problem today.
Supermarkets carry everything kosher – from salsas to duck sauce to candy corn and marshmallows. In fact, there are more than 30,000 kosher products.
Kosher meat markets have opened in Broward and Palm Beach County. And health-food stores these days look more like kosher supermarkets, Plotkin says. Most of their products are labeled kosher. And for busy working people, there’s even kosher takeout from local Jewish stores including Buffalo wings, barbecued chicken, pizza, lasagna and eggplant Parmesan.
Plotkin believes the explosion in kosher products has had to do, in part, with the fact that more young professionals who appreciate good food are becoming kosher. To target this market, manufacturers are making and having their foods labeled kosher.
“It’s a wonderful circle of supply and demand,” says Plotkin, who thinks the ultimate would be a kosher Oreo (currently these cookies are made with lard, which isn’t kosher).
What’s more, many kosher restaurants are opening in the area and even gourmet and low-fat kosher cookbooks are coming onto the market. The Great Chefs of America Cook Kosher (Jewish National Fund, 1996, $36, to order call 800-889-4414) features 175 recipes from chefs – some non-Jewish – from all over the country. Using the right ingredients and cookware, these recipes are kosher; made in a traditional kitchen, they are still good.
This book gives kosher people a chance to try foods they may never have had before, says Ruth Madoff, executive editor of the book.
Instead of Bubbie’s corned beef or chicken in a pot, this upscale book includes such dishes as Cranberry Linzertorte; a saute of chicken with shiitake mushrooms; and a marvelous combination of linguine with fresh tuna, roasted potatoes, green beans and arugula.
And then there’s Harriet Roth’s Deliciously Healthy Jewish Cooking (Dutton, 1996). A book title that, up until now, would have been an oxymoron.
Of course, everyone in a family may not be happy about the decision to go kosher. It took Avner’s sons Michael, 16, and Jeremy, 19, six months to adapt. “They were afraid they wouldn’t be able to have things they liked including cheeseburgers and pizza,” Avner says. But now they are “observant and respectful – and they make sure their friends don’t mix up the utensils used for meat and those used for dairy in the kitchen.”
For these families, keeping kosher has brought satisfaction.
“Being kosher and being more involved in my religion has made me calmer, I like myself better and I am nicer to be around. I even think it’s helped my marriage,” Houston says.
ENTREE
LINGUINE WITH TUNA, POTATOES, ARUGULA AND GREEN BEANS
6 to 8 new or creamer potatoes
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
12 ounces yellowfin tuna
1 cup (2-inch) lengths green beans, blanched*
5 (1/2-ounce) packages fresh arugula leaves (4 cups)
2 teaspoons fine-minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, or to taste 8 ounces dried linguine or spaghetti, cooked according to package directions and drained
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash potatoes and rub each with some oil. Place in an 8-inch baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake about 25 minutes or until done but firm. Set aside to cool slightly, then halve or quarter. (The pieces should be about 3/4-inch chunks). Preheat the broiler, brush the tuna with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil 2 to 3 minutes per side or until medium rare. Cut into 1-inch chunks and set aside. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the potato chunks and stir them until lightly browned. Add the green beans, arugula, garlic and hot pepper. Stirring often, cook about 1 minute or until the arugula is wilted. Add the tuna and warm through. Season with salt and pepper. Toss the pasta with the sauce. Makes 4 servings.
Per serving: 573 calories, 30 grams protein, 22 grams fat, 63 grams carbohydrates, 38 milligrams cholesterol, 46 milligrams sodium, 35 percent calories from fat.
*To blanch green beans, put 1/2 inch water in a small saucepan. Add beans, bring to a boil, cover and steam about 3 minutes or until beans are bright green and still tender-crisp.
Recipe adapted from one by Joyce Goldstein reprinted in The Great Chefs of America Cook Kosher (Jewish National Fund, 1996) edited by Idee Schoenheimer, Ruth Madoff and Karen
ENTREE
SEARED MARINATED BREAST OF CHICKEN WITH SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS Marinated Chicken:
1/2 cup exra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
4 cloves garlic, crushed
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Shiitake Saute:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded
Salt and fresh-ground black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons brandy
1 tablespoon margarine
2 tablespoons minced Italian parsley
To make the marinade: In a shallow nonreactive container such as a zip-seal plastic bag, combine all the ingredients for the marinade except the chicken. Add the chicken pieces, turn to coat and cover or seal bag and toss to coat chicken; marinate for several hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
To make the saute: In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil and lightly brown the garlic. Add the shiitake caps, salt and pepper. Saute mushrooms about 6 minutes or until they are golden brown on both sides and softened.
Stir in the brandy, margarine and parsley; cook 1 minute longer.
Coat a large skillet with some of the marinade from the chicken and set over high heat. When pan is very hot, saute the chicken 2 to 3 minutes per side or until browned. Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook through. Arrange the chicken on individual serving plates and top with the mushrooms. Makes 6 servings.
Per serving: 348 calories, 36 grams protein, 18 grams fat, 11 grams carbohydrates, 96 milligrams cholesterol, 114 milligrams sodium, 45 percent calories from fat. Recipe adapted from one by Joyce Goldstein reprinted in The Great Chefs of America Cook Kosher (Jewish National Fund, 1996) edited by Idee Schoenheimer, Ruth Madoff and Karen MacNeil.
DESSERT
CRANBERRY LINZERTORTE
Serve this dairy dessert with whipped cream.
Pastry Crust:
1 cup flour
6 tablespoons sugar
Pinch ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 1/2 ounces sliced almonds, toasted* and finely chopped
1 hard-boiled egg yolk, finely sieved
2 raw egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon fine-grated lemon zest
Cranberry Filling:
5 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon fine-grated orange zest
3 tablespoons water
To make crust: Combine the flour, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, almonds and cooked egg yolk in a bowl of an electric mixer. With the paddle attachment, beat in the raw egg yolks on medium speed. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the butter and lemon zest; mix until smooth. This will make a very soft dough.
Reserving a third of the dough, press the remaining dough onto the bottom and about 1 inch up side of a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. The crust should be 1/4-inch thick. Chill until ready to fill.
Wrap and chill the remaining dough. When it is solid, divide it into 8 equal portions. Place each portion on a piece of plastic wrap. Use the wrap to help you use your hands to roll and/or stretch each piece into a 9-inch-long log with the diameter of a pencil. This will take some effort because the dough is very soft; the logs will not be perfectly round. Place on a cookie sheet.
Refrigerate the tart shell and dough logs for at least 1 hour or until firm.
To make the filling: Combine the cranberries, sugar, orange zest and water in a nonreactive saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes or until cranberries are soft. Cool to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill the tart shell with the filling. Roll the chilled dough logs still wrapped in plastic between your palms to smooth them and make more circular. Unwrap logs and arrange them in a lattice pattern atop the tart. Trim edges of dough logs so they don’t overhang the pan. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake 35 to 45 minutes or until the shell and lattice are golden. Serve at room temperature. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Per serving: 379 calories, 4 grams protein, 21 grams fat, 47 grams carbohydrates, 101 milligrams cholesterol, 12 milligrams sodium, 49 percent calories from fat.
*To toast almonds: Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake in a 350-degree oven 10 minutes or until golden. Toss pan periodically to turn nuts.
Recipe adapted from one by Emily Luchetti as reprinted in The Great Chefs of America Cook Kosher (Jewish National Fund, 1996) edited by Idee Schoenheimer, Ruth Madoff and Karen MacNeil.
