Hey! A question to a New Yorker from the uninformed - in those Jewish delis, I've seen they serve pastrami and such with melted cheese. Is it fake cheese or are they not kosher? Thanks!
A Jewish deli just means a deli that is owned by a Jew and serves food that caters toward Jews. Ashkenazi Jews typically owned and opened them so they could have places where local Jews could buy cuisine like gefilte fish and matzo ball soup - things that you couldn’t get anywhere else. Some are kosher but many are not. Many of them have changed to “kosher-style” to appeal to a broader, less Jewish, customer base. Bottom line - if there’s no kosher certification, it’s not kosher. So if there’s cheese, it’s not kosher and won’t be certified. I guess they could be using plant-based…though I’ve never seen that.
I’m certainly not a Jewish deli expert, just a Jew that keeps kashrut. If anyone wants to give more information to Anon based on your experiences, by all means!
