Kosher Food Guidelines for Bringing Food to the Mivasair home
Making kosher food to bring to events held at the Mivasair home is not difficult if you follow these simple guidelines.
Many prepared foods bear a heksher that indicates the food is kosher. Examples of kosher symbols are listed here: http://www.hanefesh.com/edu/kosher_Food_Symbols.htm#Canada
Cheese: Check the label carefully. Either it needs a heksher OR the cheese must be made without animal rennet (easy to find). If the doesn’t have a heksher, the list of ingredients has to include something indicated that it has vegetable rennet, bacterial or microbial enzymes, etc. If there is no heksher and no list of ingredients, then please choose a different cheese.
Baked goods: All breads, pastries, crackers, and other prepared baked goods must have a heksher. They need to have a kosher symbol on the label OR come from a strictly kosher bakery such as Sabra’s, Omnitsky, Mount Royal (North Vancouver), or Garden City (Richmond).
Prepared foods: Any prepared foods (that have been cooked before sale) must have some sort of heksher (any kosher symbol, even just a K, is fine). Many supermarket foods – Superstore, Safeway, IGA, Capers, Choices, WholeFoods, Urban Fare, SaveOn, etc – have a symbol on the package.
Fish: All fish with fins and scales are acceptable, such as salmon or tuna. Make sure the tuna has a heksher.
Salads with fish: Start with the type of fish above. (Fish that, when alive, don’t have both fins and scales are not kosher.) Add kosher mayo (with a heksher) and uncooked veggies to make a salad.
Foods that don’t need a heksher
Cold drinks: Cold fresh drinks do not need a heksher.
Raw food: Uncooked fruits and vegetables do not need a heksher.
Raw salads: Any mix of raw fruit or vegetables, such as green salad, spinach salad, cole slaw, carrot salad, fruit salad and so on. NOTE: Salad dressings must have a heksher on the package OR be made completely of raw ingredients.
Couscous: This you could cook at home and bring if you made it in a well-cleaned glass bowl, pour boiling water into the bowl and then add raw ingredients.
Condiments: Pickles, olives, and such.
Foods that are never OK to bring
Seafood. Fish that don’t have both fins and scales when alive are not kosher. This means no shellfish, octopus, squid or other non-fin, non-scale seafood.
Meat. The shared meals are always dairy meals. This means that no meat or meat products (such as meat-based broths) are allowed. Note: Eggs and the approved types of fish are not considered meat.
Questions
We’ll be happy to guide you through any uncertainties with the kosher question. Please contact Reb David (<a href=”mailto:rabbi@ahavat-olam.ca”>rabbi@ahavat-olam.ca</a> or 604-781-7839 with any questions.
