What's the difference between kosher and Jewish style and Halal? Where's the best?

Doughnuts, festival food.

I have eaten bagels and borsht, Jewish style and kosher food in homes and restaurants in the UK, USA, Singapore and Australia and Poland and Israel. I have eaten in kosher or Jewish style restaurants in London, England; New York, New Jersey, USA; Singapore; and Warsaw in Poland. I have also had halal food in homes, gatherings, and restaurants the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Tunisia, Morocco and Jordan. (This includes Toastmasters clubs, bar mitzvahs, weddings, and funerals.)

Menu Choice

In a previous post I described Delisserie in Hatch End: 'The menu is New York Grill. Lots of Jewish style food such as bagels and salmon and salt beef. Plus pastrami. ' I also mentioned B & K of Edgware and Hatch End which serves salt beef and latkes and lokshen pudding (noodle pudding).

I have said, 'But not kosher'. What does that mean?

Supervision

A kosher restaurant in the UK will carry a notice saying that they are under the London Beth Din in London or another authority in another city.

Different branches have different supervising bodies. The Sephardis (Spanish style) are separate from the Ashkenazis (German style - including Russian and Polish).

Menus

What is not on the menu? The rules follow the Hebrew Bible laws, translated into Greek and Latin and then English as the book of Leviticus in what Christians call The Old Testament. 

1 Shellfish is forbidden - no crab, lobster, prawns, prawn cocktail, shrimps etc.

2 No milk and meat at the same meal. Some restaurants serve meat but the coffee will have non dairy creamer or more usually people will order black coffee or herbal tea. In Israel you are likely to get restaurants which always serve meat but not milk, or always serve milk but not meat. No milk will mean no milk in your coffee, no yogurt, no cheese, no milk desserts, no milk chocolate.

3 No pork. This means no pork, no bacon, no ham. No lard. Turkey must be kosher. 

4 Strictly kosher means everything is kosher, prepared in a kosher kitchen with different pots and pots, even sinks and fridges and colour coded tea towels and chopping boards. 

5 Glatt kosher means the person checking the meat will be extra strict and pay attention to the condition of the lungs of the animal.

6 Blood is not served but drained out of the meat prior to cooking. No bloody steaks. No black pudding.

Regarding Delisserie, not only are they not claiming to be kosher and not supervised, they have the sort of dishes which make anybody with a knowledge of kosher food read twice to be sure they saw what they think they saw - meat burgers containing cheese. (A kosher rule is don't mix meat and milk in the same meal.) 

B & K serve Jewish style food but not strictly kosher food. 

Why would a restaurant do that? Because they want to open on Saturday when many customers want to eat or buy from the deli. Because the owners or chefs are not Jewish but worked in Jewish restaurants or know customers in the area like Jewish style food, bagels and chollah but are not fussed about rules.

Those who like Jewish style food and aren't bothered about keeping kosher will be very happy. Hatch End has more Jewish style food at B and K.  Hatch End and many high streets in NW London have kosher restaurants and kosher food in supermarkets.

Opening Hours

What would a restaurant have to do to be kosher? They would have to close on the Sabbath. This is not 9-5 on Friday and Saturday. It is following the hours of sunlight and darkness. So in summer your favourite kosher restaurant or bakery or kosher bagel supplier in an area such as Golders Green would be able to open later on Friday because it gets dark well after 5 pm, but would not open again until late on Saturday night in summer. Conversely, the same eating place in winter would be closing early in London on Friday, but opening earlier on Saturday night. (The same would apply according to sunrise and sunset in other parts of the world.)

A kosher restaurant will also be opening and closing for Jewish holidays. 

Halal Food, Pork and Shellfish

Halal food is similar to Jewish food regarding the banning of pork and pork products. So, to avoid pork, you would fare well in restaurants in the Middle East, or in Halal restaurants.

Mixing Meal and Milk

However, Halal food does not require the separation of milk and meat. (In Jordan the popular dish, one might say nation dish, is a young animal cooked in milk.)

Watching for Shellfish

In Malaysia and Singapore if you want to avoid pork, which is popular in Chinese restaurants, you could try the Halal restaurants and fast food outlets. However, if you are avoiding shellfish for religious reasons or have a shellfish allergy, watch out for Chinese and Malay and halal rice dishes containing prawns. 

Shellfish in Korea

I also had a nasty moment in Korea. We had a translator-guide with us for a weekend away. The guide assured me there was no shellfish in the mixed vegetable soup. I tried it and detected a very sour taste. She assured me that the sour taste must be from pickled vegetables. She conferred again with the waiting staff. I dipped my spoon in again. Up came a small curved white and pink item. Definitely shellfish! 

By now I was feeling tingling on my lips lips and the tip of my tongue. I spat into my napkin, raced to the  ladies, washed out my mouth several times and made myself sick three times. 

My most embarrassing food faux pas moments have included:

1 Asking for milk in my coffee in a kosher restaurant.

2 Taking gifts of non-kosher chocolates to a Jewish family. Plus non-kosher wine. And a pot plant - what? A pot plant at Pesach had to be left in their garage or taken back to my home or the shop. I asked a non-religious Jew why this was. He replied, "Because they believe in storks and unicorns. The eleventh commandment is thou shalt not have nasturtiums in thy parlour." I think it's something to do with non contamination after you've done a complete spring clean preparing for Passover. 

3 Nearly offering cakes containing flour to a kosher family during Peach.

4 Serving fish balls to guests at a funeral. A visiting Jewish guest was a lapsed Jew. What could go wrong? He was not kosher - but he was vegan.

If you want to be strictly kosher or halal you can try vegetarian or vegan restaurants. If you are running an event at a restaurant or club or conference, you may need to bring in airline style food which is supplied sealed. 

Keeping Kosher

This is not a guide to keeping kosher. Please check with the relevant authorities. It is simply a guide to what you might find or not find in a restaurant, so that you know to check the opening times and menus to be sure of avoiding embarrassment and maximising your chance of enjoying filling food and some of the world's most wonderful cuisines.

Best Borscht

I've had borsht in the USA, Poland, Britain and Australian. I prefer Borsht made Polish or Ashkenazi style (thickened with potato or cream) rather than Russian style which is a clear soup. I think the best salt beef and lokshen pudding are at B and K which has two branches in London. The greatest chance of getting borscht is in Warsaw where about half the restaurants I visited had it on the menu.

Dreaming Of Bagels and B and K

I have lived in London and Singapore and Washington DC.  'Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner,' as the song goes, 'that I think of her, wherever I go'. When I travel elsewhere I dream of B and K in London. Whether I'm in New York or Singapore or Warsaw or Israel, I still think the best Jewish style food is in London.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and author and speaker.