[Paul W.]

In Jewish dietary laws, I understand meat and milk-based products cannot be mixed. Can fish and milk be mixed, i.e. cod in cheese sauce?

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[Augustine23380]

A Jewish friend once explained to me that fish is ‘neutral’, i.e., not considered to be dairy (‘milchedich’) or meat (‘fleischedich’), hence it can be mixed with dairy products. However, chicken is considered meat and cannot be mixed with dairy. If this is from the Levitical prohibition on ‘seething a kid in its mother’s milk’, I’m a bit confused about chicken, because fowls do not nurse their young.

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[Keren26475]

Yes, fish and milk can be mixed and it’s still considered kosher. I have no idea why.

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[David25919]

Paul, Just a note on what I have heard from some friends about the Jewish Dietary Laws. What I have been told is that you are not supposed to eat the parent and the child or a product, e.g., milk at the same meal. I believe because fish and milk are not related it doesn’t form any sort of conflict in the laws.

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[JerryS]

The reason is simple: the Bible prohibits cooking a kid in its mother’s milk, and all the rest proceeds from that. Fish mothers obviously have no milk. From what I recall, the prohibition didn’t extend to fowl until fairly recently, probably for the same reason. I think the line was moved on the grounds that birds, having obvious red blood, have to be kashered (have the blood drained from their meat) the same way mammals do; either that was enough to get them reclassified on its own, or the issue was that the same utensils were used on chickens as on cows, so you’d either have to create a third category and a third set of utensils or you’d have to lump the birds in with the mammals. Fish don’t have obvious blood vessels and their meat isn’t drained of blood, so they retain their neutral status.

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[Jessica]

Although I’m not Jewish, I’m reasonably sure that this is because fish are not mammals, that is, they do not breast feed. The restriction on the combination of meat and dairy is because an animal can’t be cooked in the milk of its mother.

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[Hope]

Fish are ‘pareve.’ Pareve basically means it’s neither milk nor meat (like fruits and vegetables). I couldn’t tell you why, but I speculate the answer is similar to the reason why, when I tell people I’m a vegetarian, they usually respond ‘Oh, so you just eat fish?’

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Name : Hope, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Religion : Jewish, Age : 38, City : Pittsburgh, State : PA, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[ShirleyAvery]

Most kosher Jews consider chicken to be meat, but you are correct since chickens are not mammals. Apparently, there was a famous Rabbi centuries ago who agreed that since chickens do not nurse their young, they are technically not “meat”. The issue boils down to the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. Few would argue that chicken flesh isn’t “meat”. That brings up another question I’ve had. Why are Jews forbidden to hunt, but allowed to fish? I do believe Jews commit less violent crimes because most of us are repulsed by the idea of killing animals and causing their bloody suffering. Just Curious

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[Dot]

Within the past few hundred years anyway, which in the 4000 years or so of Jewish mythology makes it modern. Like so many interpretations of religious text it was merely the capriciousness of man. A rabbi reputedly started this ball rolling because he felt the flock wasn’t sacrificing enough. Rabbis now are trying to create a new listing for “Ethically Kosher” food, meaning that those workers producing it are treated well, have health benefits, etc. In other words kosher meat will become so expensive that only a few can afford it. The only sensible way to keep kosher in the modern world is to be a vegetarian. You will find that most younger Jews who care about dietary laws simply don’t eat meat at all.

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