Kosher, in Hebrew, means fit or proper, and is used to describe foods that are prepared in accordance with special Jewish dietary laws. The source of all Kosher laws is the Bible, which details which forms of meat, fowl, and fish are and are not Kosher. Kashrut rules dictate the manner in which animals must be treated prior to death and details the specific way in which they must be killed. Kosher meat and fowl must be slaughtered by a specially trained expert, under the supervision of orthodox rabbis, in a painless ritual fashion that minimizes the stress and suffering of the animal. In addition, all subunits of a product must conform to dietary laws in order for the food item to be Kosher. One non-Koshe ingredient can render the entire product unsuitable. For example, soda often contains a flavor enhancer called castorium which is extracted from otters, and cookies may contain an emulsifier derived from animal fat.
Kosher Cooking - provides
Kosher recipes, cooking resources, questions about specific Kashrut laws
and about keeping Kosher in
general.
Kashrut Today -this
site provides up-to-date information about Kashrut (which is pretty funny
since Kosher laws are about 5000
years old!), and also has interesting lists
of mislabeled products, Kosher and non that one should be aware of when
shopping.
Kosher Restaurant Database
- a great source of almost all Kosher restaurant
throughout the United States; this site is very useful for
those who travel frquently or are planning
a trip to make sure there'll be somewhere they can eat where they are going.
Kosher Vitamins - this is a very interesting site about, obviously, Kosher vitamins; so many dietary supplements have animal fats or animal oils in them; this site provides a list of all vitamins approved by the Orthodox Union.
Orthodox Union - the primary source for information about Kashrut; this site answers any and all questions about keeping Kosher, the history of Kosher laws, recent news about Kosher products and restaurants; another important aspect of this site is its information on animal rights as it pertains to Kosher rules and regulations.
Organized Kosher Laboratories - OK
provides supervision to hundreds of Kosher companies, restaurants, distributors,
and supermarkets around the world; this site explains what is involved
in the supervision of food production and treatment; it discusses the role
of the rabbi as supervisor, equiptment used to most effectively reduce
suffering of the animals, and the ways in which meat and non-meat products
are kept separate.