Why do my strict Jewish friends only eat kosher food and what is kosher food anyhow?

Kosher food is food that follows rules set down in Jewish law. Your friends are following the rules of their religion. There are certain ways foods have to be handled and prepared to be considered kosher. There are also foods that are forbidden by kosher laws. Pig is the meat that most people know about not being kosher, but rabbits are also on the list and most birds except regular poultry like chicken, goose and duck. Shell fish are on the no no list since they don’t have fins. Other fish are alright as long as they are prepared in the right way. Prepackaged foods have the kosher mark of approval on the label. Produce has to be clean of most bugs. How certain foods are prepared or served makes a difference too. Some things cannot be served together like meat and milk or meat and fish. Even the equipment used to mix or prepare and for cleaning up afterwards have to be kept separate so mass produced food has to have machinery that follows kosher law to make the food kosher too. The dishes and utensils have to be stored separately by strict kosher law. One interesting thing is that kosher law requires that animals used for food be killed with no pain. Then they examine the dead animal to make sure it has no signs of any kind of illness. There are more rules than these and it seems quite complicated but like anything if you are raised with it and follow the rules, you learn them and they become part of everyday life. The laws may seem very strict to people who do not follow these practices but these laws have been around for a long time and are an important part of a follower’s life. Ask your friends about some of the specific rules and learn a little more about another culture. Mama Nono