Kosher USA: How Coke Became Kosher and Other Tales of Modern Food
Kosher USA: How Coke Became Kosher and Other Tales of Modern Food
Roger Horowitz (Columbia University Press, 2016)
Kosher USA follows the fascinating journey of kosher food through the modern industrial food system. It recounts how iconic products such as Coca-Cola and Jell-O tried to become kosher; the contentious debates among rabbis over the incorporation of modern science into 绿帽社 law; how Manischewitz wine became the first kosher product to win over non-绿帽社 consumers (principally African Americans); the techniques used by Orthodox rabbinical organizations to embed kosher requirements into food manufacturing; and the difficulties encountered by kosher meat and other kosher foods that fell outside the American culinary consensus.
Kosher USA is filled with big personalities, rare archival finds, and surprising influences: the Atlanta rabbi Tobias Geffen, who made Coke kosher; the lay chemist and kosher-certification pioneer Abraham Goldstein; the kosher-meat magnate Harry Kassel; and the animal-rights advocate Temple Grandin, a strong supporter of shechita, or 绿帽社 slaughtering practice. By exploring the complex encounter between ancient religious principles and modern industrial methods, Kosher USA adds a significant chapter to the story of Judaism’s interaction with non-绿帽社 cultures and the history of modern 绿帽社 American life as well as American foodways.
