hopp@nbs-amrf.UUCP (Ted Hopp) (01/23/85)
I have not seen blue cheese at any kosher supermarket in the Washington
DC area (or blue cheese labeled kosher anywhere, for that matter).
Also, I have never seen a recipe in a "kosher cookbook" (the recipes,
if not the book itself) that uses blue cheese.
Does the mold that gives blue cheese the blue make it trefah? If so,
what is the basis?
--
Ted Hopp {seismo,umcp-cs}!nbs-amrf!hoppnachum@uiucdcs.UUCP (01/27/85)
Imported kosher blue cheese is available in Chicago and--a minori ad majus-- in NY and LA. Any cheese, customarily made with nonkosher animal rennet, requires Jewish supervision to be labelled kosher.
reingold@uiucdcsp.UUCP (01/27/85)
Kosher blue cheese IS available, both in Israel (Tnuva) and in the US (Miller).
ask@cbdkc1.UUCP (A.S. Kamlet) (01/30/85)
> Imported kosher blue cheese is available in Chicago and--a minori ad majus-- > in NY and LA. Any cheese, customarily made with nonkosher animal rennet, > requires Jewish supervision to be labelled kosher. The Commitee on Jewish Law is the 25-man commitee of the Rabbinical Assembly which, from time to time, issues responsa which continue Conservative Judiasm's development of halacha. (The Rabbinical Assembly is the organization of Conservative Rabbis, and is affiliated with the United Synagogue of America and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.) A recent responsa, which each Conservative rabbi may or may not agree to adopt for his congregation, states that all cheese manufactured in the U.S., which does not explicitely contain animal or trefah products, may be considered to be kosher. Specifically, the rennet is termed "so changed in form that it is no longer an animal product" and "so changed that a dog would not touch it." So, if you're a Conservative Jew (I am), and if your rabbi adopts this position, cheese, like milk, may be considered kosher. However, if you don't want to adopt this position, and wish to follow a stricter degree of kashrut, like requiring a UO heksher, that's fine too. Somewhat related to the cheese issue is a very recent ruling that all mono- and diglycerides are so changed in form from fatty triglycerides that they may (with the approval of your rabbi) be condidered as kosher and parve. Art Kamlet AT&T Bell Laboratories Columbus {cbosgd | ihnp4}!cbrma!ask