Kosher? That means the rabbi blessed it, right? Not exactly. In this captivating account of a Bible-based practice that has grown into a multibillions-dollar industry, journalist Sue Fishkoff travels throughout America and to Shanghai, China, to find out who eats kosher food, who produces it, who is responsible for its certification, and how this fascinating world continues to evolve. She explains why 86 percent of the 11.2 million Americans who regularly buy kosher food are not observant Jews—they are Muslims, Seventh-day Adventists, vegetarians, people with food allergies, and consumers who pay top dollar for food they believe “answers to a higher authority.” Fishkoff interviews food manufacturers, rabbinic supervisors, and ritual slaughterers; meets with eco-kosher adherents who go beyond traditional requirements to produce organic chicken and pasture-raised beef; sips boutique kosher wine in Napa Valley; talks to shoppers at an upscale kosher supermarket in Brooklyn; and marches with unemployed workers at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant. She talks to Reform Jews who are rediscovering the spiritual benefits of kashrut, and to Conservative and Orthodox Jews who are demanding that kosher food production adhere to ethical and environmental values. And she chronicles the corruption, price-fixing, and strong arm tactics of early-twentieth-century kosher meat production, against which contemporary kashrut standards pale by comparison. A revelatory look at the current state of kosher in America, this book will appeal to anyone interested in food, religion, Jewish identity, or big business.

In an era of anxiety about the safety and industrialization of the food supply, kosher food—with $12 billion in sales—is big business. Timothy Lytton tells a story of successful private-sector regulation: how independent certification agencies rescued U.S. kosher supervision from corruption and made it a model of nongovernmental administration.

The second edition of Kosher Food Production explores the intricate relationship between modern food production and related Kosher application. Following an introduction to basic Kosher laws, theory and practice, Rabbi Blech details the essential food production procedures required of modern food plants to meet Kosher certification standards. Chapters on Kosher application include ingredient management; rabbinic etiquette; Kosher for Passover; and the industries of fruits and vegetables, baking, biotechnology, dairy, fish, flavor, meat and poultry, oils, fats, and emulsifiers, and food service. New to this edition are chapters covering Kosher application in the candy and confections industries and the snack foods industry. A collection of over 50 informative commodity-specific essays – specifically geared to the secular audience of food scientists – then follows, giving readers insight and understanding of the concerns behind the Kosher laws they are expected to accommodate. Several essays new to the second edition are included. Kosher Food Production, Second Edition serves as an indispensable outline of the issues confronting the application of Kosher law to issues of modern food technology.

Kosher USA follows the fascinating journey of kosher food through the modern industrial food system. It recounts how iconic products such as Coca-Cola and Jell-O tried to become kosher; the contentious debates among rabbis over the incorporation of modern science into Jewish law; how Manischewitz wine became the first kosher product to win over non-Jewish consumers (principally African Americans); the techniques used by Orthodox rabbinical organizations to embed kosher requirements into food manufacturing; and the difficulties encountered by kosher meat and other kosher foods that fell outside the American culinary consensus. Kosher USA is filled with big personalities, rare archival finds, and surprising influences: the Atlanta rabbi Tobias Geffen, who made Coke kosher; the lay chemist and kosher-certification pioneer Abraham Goldstein; the kosher-meat magnate Harry Kassel; and the animal-rights advocate Temple Grandin, a strong supporter of shechita, or Jewish slaughtering practice. By exploring the complex encounter between ancient religious principles and modern industrial methods, Kosher USA adds a significant chapter to the story of Judaism's interaction with non-Jewish cultures and the history of modern Jewish American life as well as American foodways.

2020-21 Reader Views Literary Award, Gold Medal Winner 2021 Independent Publisher Book Award, Gold Medal Winner 2020 National Jewish Book Award, Finalist 2020 American Book Fest Best Book Awards Finalist in the U.S. History category 2020 Foreword Indies Book of the Year Finalist In the wee hours of May 15, 1902, three thousand Jewish women quietly took up positions on the streets of Manhattan's Lower East Side. Convinced by the latest jump in the price of kosher meat that they were being gouged, they assembled in squads of five, intent on shutting down every kosher butcher shop in New York's Jewish quarter. What was conceived as a nonviolent effort did not remain so for long. Customers who crossed the picket lines were heckled and assaulted and their parcels of meat hurled into the gutters. Butchers who remained open were attacked, their windows smashed, stock ruined, equipment destroyed. Brutal blows from police nightsticks sent women to local hospitals and to court. But soon Jewish housewives throughout the area took to the streets in solidarity, while the butchers either shut their doors or had their doors shut for them. The newspapers called it a modern Jewish Boston Tea Party. The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902 tells the twin stories of mostly uneducated women immigrants who discovered their collective consumer power and of the Beef Trust, the midwestern cartel that conspired to keep meat prices high despite efforts by the U.S. government to curtail its nefarious practices. With few resources and little experience but steely determination, this group of women organized themselves into a potent fighting force and, in their first foray into the political arena in their adopted country, successfully challenged powerful, vested corporate interests and set a pattern for future generations to follow.

I was "the bride who knew nothing" . . . And now I love sharing the joy of kosher cooking with people like me: Busy parents who want to make real food for real families in a snap, and people who want to entertain without slaving in the kitchen, knowing their dishes will always elicit oohs and aahs. Our Sabbath and holiday meals are warm, fun, and flowing with food, family, and tons of guests. Do the math: two weekly Shabbos meals + 26 holiday banquets = 130 feasts per year, not to mention feeding my hungry family every other day of the week. That plus a full-time job should qualify me as some kind of expert in fast, fresh family dinners! Here in Joy of Kosher I share more than 100 of my absolute best recipes and give each a creative twist: Dress It Up—add some bling for your party table—or Dress It Down and lure your picky eaters to meals they'll beg for again and again. That's more than 200 recipes! A few of my faves: Crystal Clear Chicken Soup with Julienned Vegetables and Angel Hair (Dress It Down: Chicken Noodle Alphabet Soup) Garlic Honey Brisket (Dress It Down: Honey Brisket Pita Pockets) Miso-Glazed Salmon (Dress It Up: Avocado-Stuffed Miso-Glazed Salmon) Butternut Squash Mac 'n' Cheese (Dress It Down: Mac 'n' Cheese Muffin Cups) Gooey Chocolate Cherry Cake (Dress It Up: Red Wine Chocolate Cherry Heart Cake) And talk about challah! I give you ten yummy variations, including Sun-Dried Tomato, Garlic, and Herb Braided Challah; Blueberry Apple Challah Rolls; Sea-Salted Soft Challah Pretzel Rolls; and Gooey Pecan Challah Sticky Buns. All that, plus gorgeous photos, wine pairings, time-savers, and my guide to sane, no-jitters holiday menus. I hope you love this book as much as I loved writing it for you!

Christmas is not everybody’s favorite holiday. Historically, Jews in America, whether participating in or refraining from recognizing Christmas, have devised a multitude of unique strategies to respond to the holiday season. Their response is a mixed one: do we participate, try to ignore the holiday entirely, or create our own traditions and make the season an enjoyable time? This book, the first on the subject of Jews and Christmas in the United States, portrays how Jews are shaping the public and private character of Christmas by transforming December into a joyous holiday season belonging to all Americans. Creative and innovative in approaching the holiday season, these responses range from composing America’s most beloved Christmas songs, transforming Hanukkah into the Jewish Christmas, creating a national Jewish tradition of patronizing Chinese restaurants and comedy shows on Christmas Eve, volunteering at shelters and soup kitchens on Christmas Day, dressing up as Santa Claus to spread good cheer, campaigning to institute Hanukkah postal stamps, and blending holiday traditions into an interfaith hybrid celebration called “Chrismukkah” or creating a secularized holiday such as Festivus. Through these venerated traditions and alternative Christmastime rituals, Jews publicly assert and proudly proclaim their Jewish and American identities to fashion a universally shared message of joy and hope for the holiday season. See also: http://www.akosherchristmas.org

Minority populations are often regarded as being ‘hard to reach’ and evading state expectations of health protection. This ethnographic and archival study analyses how devout Jews in Britain negotiate healthcare services to preserve the reproduction of culture and continuity. This book demonstrates how the transformative and transgressive possibilities of technology reveal multiple pursuits of protection between this religious minority and the state. Making Bodies Kosher advances theoretical perspectives of immunity, and sits at the intersection of medical anthropology, social history and the study of religions.

Kosher cooking has been redefined for the modern family. The New Kosher is filled with healthy recipes, exquisite flavors, and a fresh sensibility for the modern lifestyle. Emphasizing fast, easy, and delicious dishes for everyday meals and special occasions, this is your comprehensive guide to kosher cooking. Kim? Kushner comes from a diverse foodie background and her easygoing, mix and match style has helped her redefine kosher cooking. With over 100 recipes from all over the world, there’s something for everyone in this unique cookbook. Looking for a modern twist on a traditional dish? Try Kim’s sticky date and caramel challah bread pudding, homemade challah with za’atar everything topping, 5-minute sundried tomato hummus or Mediterranean-inspired lentil, carrot and lemon soup. Trying to find a new family favorite? Whip up some coconut- banana muffins with dark chocolate, penne with lemon zest, pine nuts and Parmesan “pesto”, easy dill chicken and stew or a crispy rice cake with saffron crust. Need a dessert everyone will love? You can’t go wrong with recipes like deconstructed s’mores, crunchy-chewy-nutty “health” cookies, miniature peanut butter cups and dark chocolate bark with rose petals, pistachios and walnuts. Warmly written with personal narratives and detailed nuance, Kim’s recipes reflect her experience as a generous instructor who loves to teach and a mom who cooks tasty and nourishing fare for a big family.

Kosher meat is prized by home chefs of all faiths for its high quality, savory flavor and the humane and well-supervised conditions it was raised and butchered under. The 120 all-new, innovative meat and poultry recipes in The Kosher Carnivore will delight families who keep kosher, but will satisfy other cooks as well once they discover the fresh mixture of classic, elegantly ethnic and innovative recipes, such as: --Standing Prime Rib with Yorkshire Pudding --Classic Pot Roast --Grilled Steak Chimichurri --Slow-day BBQ Brisket --Moroccan Chicken --Crispy Fried Chicken --Pesto-Crusted Lamb --Orecchiette Pasta with Turkey Sausage and Broccoli Rabe -- Pan-seared Duck Breasts with Figs and Madeira --The Perfect Burger The Kosher Carnivore focuses on meat, but provides fantastic dairy-free soups, side dishes, marinades and sauces, too—from Creamed Spinach without the butter or cream, to Fresh Guacamole. It also provides complete and smart instructions on how to grill, roast, braise, stew and pan-sear, along with tips from expert butchers, organic farmers, a leading cookware and gadget guru, a wine authority and a knife skills professional: all there to help the home cook buy and prepare the best in kosher meat and poultry. "Kosher eating is a trend 3,300 years in the making. This book addresses both the new face of kosher as well as the traditional kosher consumer, with a focus on meat and poultry. Whether you buy kosher chicken because it is plumper and tastier or kosher steak because you are observant and would not consider eating anything else, this book is an indispensable resource." --from Kosher Carnivore's introduction