What Jews may and may not eat is covered under the laws of kashrut (Hebrew: כַּשְׁרוּת).
A vegetarian diet may be considered de facto kosher (fit for eating) unless non-kosher insects happen to infiltrate the food (crickets and locusts are considered kosher).
An animal must be disease-free and not only have a cloven hoof and chew its cud to be kosher (cow, deer, sheep = kosher; pig (cloven hoof but no cud chewing), horse (cud chewing but no cloven hoof), bobcat (no cud chewing, no cloven hoof) = non-kosher ("treyf")), it has to be slaughtered in a ritually acceptable way, which includes efforts to reduce the animal's suffering.
The fact that
Deuteronomy explicitly prohibits eating a limb torn from a live animal makes you wonder what people were doing to prompt the prohibition.
Meat and milk may not be consumed together, so don't ask for butter and sour cream with your steakhouse baked potato side, and if there are milk solids in your bread mix, forget about serving that loaf with your roast.
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| Nadine inquires about whether bread mix is kosher in Hatboxes |
Fish must have fins and scales to be kosher; shellfish and bottom feeders like catfish are prohibited.
Chickens, domesticated geese, turkeys, and ducks, and pigeons may be kosher. Raptors and carrion eaters are not kosher.
Some foods are parve, which means they are neutral in relation to meat or dairy products. These include vegetables, fruit, nuts, water, salt, and eggs.
What prohibitions do your eating habits include, and where do they come from?
