<p>“For example, some of DW’s family is kosher to the point that they bring their own food whenever they visit, yet they have no problem heating up their food in my microwave, which we use (and they know this) primarily to cook bacon”
As I think Sikorsky mentioned, there are circumstances under which that’s okay. They may have just been ignorant of the particular itty-bitty rules involved, which a lot of people are, but if not it can be done with a bit of a patchkeh.
As far as the kosher cheese is concerned, I have no idea. There are some companies trying to market to more “upscale” kosher consumers (there’s been a stereotype that kosher food, or at least food made by Jewish companies, isn’t as good as the regular equivalent) and I assume they make good products, but I wouldn’t know the specifics, not exactly being a gourmet. Write to the company! I’m sure they’d be thrilled!
Gebrokts, to the person who asked, is Passover food made with matzah meal instead of flour- therefore, it definitely has gluten. Non-gebrokts food generally usues potato starch or an equivalent instead. Just check ingredients lists.
Are kosher airline meals really better than regular ones? I must go on the bad days, then… (not doubting you, rather musing that my expectations of airline food must be unreasonably high).</p>
<p>Not because it is any healthier than other alternatives in today’s world. It doesn’t matter how you get your beef, it isn’t any healthier than modern day pork or other forbidden foods. We are products of our cultures, someone outside of the particular culture sees the logic used differently. I suspect the son is following his cultural/religious roots for some emotional (comfort?) reasons even if he doesn’t always buy into the rest of the teachings or lifestyle.</p>
<p>Vegetarian diets are also not necessarily any healthier than meat based ones- Indian foods are a great example of this. Some are healthy, others are not (think fried foods for example). Some Hindu groups do eat animal proteins, others don’t so it is not just religion.</p>
<p>History explains a lot of why different groups developed different diets. Think availability, climates, diseases prevalent in an area. There is usually a good reason for the time that rules were evolved.</p>
<p>It will be interesting for you to see how your son evolves over coming decades. Will he add in other aspects of his religious culture to his life or abandon today’s dietary restrictions? </p>
<p>Like everything else in life food choices are a mix of logic, availability and culture/religion. For a parent the logic a child uses in making choices isn’t always apparent. It isn’t surprising for a young adult to experiment with lifestyles. Incorporating one from his cultural background may be part of his choosing his identity in the world.</p>
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<p>So I worked my way to the end of this thread just so I could ask the OP, “He’s your son, why don’t you ask him?” but then I finally figured out that the OP was quoting someone from another thread. oh well, I think there are many possible reasons for this that were covered early in the thread.</p>
<p>Indeed, NJRes, this thread was originally part of another thread asking about universities with kosher dining that’s not separated from non-kosher dining facilties. (Well, obviously the kitchens would need to be separate, but the poster was looking for places where her son could get kosher meat and still sit with non-kosher friends.)</p>
<p>Never mind the reasons, but the moderators thought it best to spin this discussion off into a thread of its own.</p>