Like all world religions Judaism is steeped in customs many of which are left over from a time when hygiene was a problem and many of which no-one can think of or guess the origin.
Food, its preparation, cooking and eating has an unusual amount of ritual associated with it.
All Jewish food has to be kasher or kosher (this means fit or right), prepared according to Jewish law. These laws can be found in the book of Leviticus in the Torah, and Jews believe that keeping these laws called the Kashrut helps to keep their identity.
Kasher foods include
Shellfish and pork are not allowed at all, but even those foods allowed have to be eaten separately. Meat and milk cannot be cooked together, eaten together or used together.
Meat has to be treated in a very specific way. The ritual killing of meat for food is called shehitah. This is based on what Jewish leaders believe to be the most humane way to kill the animals.
Most Jewish kitchens have two sinks and two sets of saucepans to be used separately for milk products and meat products so that they can never come into contact even accidentally.
Prayers are said over food, very often specific prayers for specific foods. Sometimes there will be a poster on the wall of a Jewish kitchen with some of these special prayers on it so that young children can learn to say them as they are growing up.
