[Sca-cooks] "Glatt Kosher" and "Ashkanzic Kosher"?

[Sharon R. Saroff]

Sindara here.  I was raised in a strictly kosher home, my grandfather 
being a "shochet"-the person who kills the meat in the way that makes 
it kosher.  In his case, he was the person in charge in the poultry 
market.  Anyway, part of an animal being kosher is checking for 
blemishes and signs of disease in the animal.  There are some things 
that are "ok" to have that don't effect the animal being 
kosher.  Glatt kosher means that not only is the animal killed 
properly, salted and soaked to remove the blood, it has also been 
checked for blemishes and there are none.

Concerning the other item of Sephardic VS Ashkanazic Jewish customs, 
there are differences in what they eat on different holidays.  In 
particular, Ashkanzic Jews are stricter on Passover then Sephardic 
Jews.  Sephardic Jews will eat rice, corn and beans-legumes on this 
holiday.  Ashkanazic Jews do not.  They feel that since you can make 
bread out of these items, that you can have a problem with 
leavening.  It is basically a "fence"- an extra restriction to make 
sure that you keep the leavening out of the home.

Hope this answers the question.

Sindara
mundanely Ashkanazic by Sephardic in the SCA



At 07:33 PM 8/1/2008, you wrote:
 >
 >On Aug 1, 2008, at 6:48 PM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
 >
 >> We've discussed Jewish and other religious food restrictions here
 >> before, but I thought Kosher was Kosher.
 >
 >Yes and no. At the risk of incurring angry disagreement from someone
 >better versed in this than I, the short version is, observant Jews
 >maintain a standard based on somebody or other's interpretation of the
 >rules. Of course, interpretations differ, and what you end up with are
 >varying degrees of liberal versus conservative interpretations. In
 >practice, this can be discussed as the difference between liberal and
 >conservative interpretations, but also is sometimes interpreted,
 >depending on which side of the line you fall on, as either, "I keep
 >Kosher but he/she is a fanatic," if the speaker is somewhat liberal,
 >and, "I keep Kosher but he/she does not," if the speaker is more
 >conservative.   So, as I said earlier, yes and no.
 >
 >> So what's with this "Glatt Kosher" and "Ashkanzic Kosher" and
 >> perhaps others?
 >
 >The two terms aren't opposite, similar, different, per se, mutually
 >inclusive nor exclusive. They just happened to appear close to each
 >other in my post.
 >
 >"Glatt" is a [Yiddish?] term meaning "smooth," used in reference to an
 >examination of the lungs of slaughtered animals. Animals with smooth
 >or unblemished lungs are acceptable for the Glatt Kosher standard.
 >Some animals might not meet that standard, but either because the
 >lungs aren't checked as closely, or because a blemish or two can be
 >overlooked, or for whatever other reason, they may still be accepted
 >as Kosher (or maybe certain cuts of them can be, I'm not sure) by some
 >authorities. It may be akin to being USDA approved Prime, Choice,
 >Good, etc. In the U.S. government's system of standards, there are
 >many variations on approval before you get to meat that is not
 >actually approved in some form.
 >
 >>  I seem to remember that Ashkanzic Jews were those who migrated
 >> through eastern Europe? and others, Sepharic? Jews across Africa and
 >> up through Spain,
 >
 >Yes, more or less.
 >
 >> but I hadn't realized that the food restrictions were different
 >
 >I'm pretty sure they are, to some extent. For example, I seem to
 >recall there being much discussion on whether seeds that aren't grains
 >are or are not (like various spices, nuts and legumes) acceptable for
 >Passover use, with much divergence of opinion largely falling on the
 >lines between Ashkanazic and Sephardic Jews.
 >
 >My reference to Ashkanazic Kosher was not to a type of Kashrut
 >described by linked adjectives; it was just using two adjectives;
 >maybe I should have stuck a comma in between them. Kosher food in the
 >style of Ashkanazic Jews, such as is often found in Kosher
 >delicatessens. Steamed pastrami on rye, stuffed cabbage, stuffed
 >peppers, braised brisket or flanken, stuffed derma or kishkas, all
 >that stuff.
 >
 >On the Sephardic side, we've got, among other things, couscous and
 >tagine-type dishes, lots of stuff fried in olive oil (in fact, it has
 >been alleged that Jews brought deep-fried fish to England, where they
 >would later pair it with chips), and a generally lighter touch with
 >vegetables (which, given the respective climates from which Ashkanazic
 >and Sephardic Jews have spent so long living in, isn't so surprising).
 >
 >> and hadn't heard of this "Glatt Kosher" before now.
 >
 >It's more of a concern for the stricter forms of observance, I
 >suspect. I doubt Kinky Friedman worries about it too much ;-).
 >
 >> An article in today's Austin paper did mention an increasing Jewish
 >> community here in Austin, but I haven't had a lot of direct
 >> experiences.
 >
 >
 >I think everybody on earth was basically put there for someone else to
 >learn something useful from, and the more important issue [than a lack
 >of direct experience] is that it's never too late to start.
 >
 >Adamantius
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,
 >when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's
 >bellies."
 >			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter
 >
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 >Sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
 >http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-cooks-ansteorra.org
 >
Sharon R. Saroff, M.S.Ed.
Special Education Consultant/Parent Advocate
S.E.D.R.A., Inc.
410-961-2739
www.mydisabilityresource.com
info at mydisabilityresource.com