...in which an item leads me to learn a bunch of random trivia about kosher food.
113. A non-kosher lunch. Points given for each different koshrut broken. (Must list broken koshrut...1 pt per, 13 pts max)
sometimes, Scav items aren't necessarily that weird in themselves, but they state (or, at least, heavily imply...) some gaping hole in my knowledge. this is one of those items.
of course, i have a certain general idea of kosher...at least, the same idea of kosher that qualifies for basic cultural literacy. there's the whole thing about not being able to mix meat and milk at the same meal, or the fact that pork isn't kosher. i even knew that you're not supposed to use milk-product cookware for meat foods, or use meat-product cookware for milk foods. but...thirteen [or more] rules? that, i didn't know.
after doing some reading, it doesn't sound like there are 13 [or X, for any discernible value of X] specific rules for eating kosher that i can just list...and enough grey areas that i'm probably not qualified to address since i'm not a rabbi [much less Jewish]. however, there's definitely more to it than i thought. for what i can gather, rules for kosher include:
among non-rodent land mammals, you can eat ones that have cloven hooves and chew their cud.
among animals in the water, you can eat ones that have both fins and scales.
among birds...there are lists in the Torah of ones you're not supposed to eat, and rabbis have generalized those lists into saying that you can eat birds that aren't scavengers or birds of prey.
some winged swarming insects may possibly be okay to eat, but all winged swarming things with four feet are not to be eaten.
amphibians aren't kosher.
insects, except for [maybe] locusts and crickets and grasshoppers, aren't kosher.
mammals and birds have to be slaughtered in accordance with Jewish law in order to be eaten.
milk and eggs, and other non-meat products from animals that aren't kosher are also not kosher.
mammals and birds that died of natural causes aren't kosher.
mammals and birds that were killed by other animals (other than the human kosher butcher, i guess...) aren't kosher.
mammal blood and bird blood aren't kosher. this includes things like blood vessels in organ meat, as well as eggs with blood spots.
the sciatic nerve and the blood vessels connected to it are not kosher, even if the animal from which it came is.
the fat surrounding the liver and other vital organs is not kosher, even if the animal from which it came is.
eating meat and dairy together, or poultry and dairy together, is not kosher. however, eating fish and dairy together is permitted. these separations also apply to the cookware used to cook various categories of foods.
any grape products (though not whole grapes themselves...) must have been made by Jewish people. i didn't know this was a rule, though it totally explains the concept of kosher wine, an idea that always confused me previously.
any meal that would break thirteen of these rules would probably in itself qualify as a scavenfeast...either that, or be the most confusing and piecemeal stew ever cooked.
on a completely tangential note...i'm doing enough reading about enough random trivia that keeping this scav blog had better help me with my pub quizzing someday! seriously...next time GASH goes to Globe for quiz, i double-dog-dare Quizmaster Dave to do a Dead or Canadian on whether a certain kind of food is kosher or not kosher. i'm ready!
