One of the formative experiences of growing up in New York City is the abortive attempt to get drunk off filched Manischewitz. This is not actually possible, because the sugar coma gets you long before the alcohol does.
Apparently, all that is changing, however; with a lot of artful dodging, non-Jewish winemakers are producing high quality kosher wines that are supposed to be, in many cases, indistinguishable from non-kosher vintages.
I wonder if this won't lead to more extremely high-end kosher restaurants in New York. There are a lot of kosher restaurants in the city, but not really at the Lutece level. I have a theory that this is because high end restaurants don't make their money on the food, even though it's really expensive--ingredients and the intensive labor eat up the margin. Those restaurants cash in on the wine that accompanies the food, and without a lot of high end kosher vintages, that wasn't really possible.
Of course, the low number of Jewish alchoholics remains an obstacle to obscene wine profits. But as kosher wine hits the big time, I'd expect to see at least a few expensive kosher restaurants come into their own.
Hung Hunyh, the season 3 winner of Top Chef, is currently Executive Chef at Solo.
I think a bigger problem than the wine is the inability to mix milk and meat, mostly because it severely limits the sauces a chef can use.
On a related note, can any kosher-keeping New Yorkers tell me if there's been a boom in kosher artisanal cheeses?
Question and a comment:
What makes a wine kosher?
Comment: I'm in AA (thus posting as Anon) in a fairly large group in the DC are. Lots of jews in the group. Several muslims, too.
Another big issue is the inability to be open on Friday and Saturday night... Every high end restaurant I ever worked in did about half of the week's business on Friday and Saturday. Friday is out entirely for any kosher restaurant. A high end restaurant would lose Saturday as well, because the hours of prep required before opening would be off limits - some kosher restaurants are able to open after sundown on Saturday, but I suspect those are the ones requiring minimal prep.
A final hurdle, with regard to the wine, is that high quality kosher wine is non-mevushal (that means they don't pasteurize it). Non-mevushal wines require Sabbath observant Jews to serve them in order to remain kosher. This would be easier to get around then the other issues, as you could simply employ a Jewish sommelier who would be the only one to pour the wine, and you'd be set. It'd be tough going though to require an entire Jewish waitstaff.
It sounds as if literally the only way that Kosher wine is different is that it's not touched by people that are considered sub-par. The ingredients aren't different, the process isn't different, it's just whether the wine has been polluted by people considered unacceptable (i.e. most of the planet).
I think that this is the best quote from the article:
"French winemakers are willing to go along with religious rules that are degrading to them because there's a market for wine made by those rules. That doesn't mean that people who believe in human equality should be part of that market."
Other people's superstitions tend to be very amusing.
There are, of course, alchoholics from every ethnic group. But Mediterranean peoples have very low rates of alchoholism even when they aren't observant Muslims. The theory is that they've had wine the longest, and therefore the genes for alcoholism were weeded out. The highest rates of alcoholism are among groups like native Americans who got high test alcohol through colonialism.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_wine
Not Jewish doesn't equal sub-par. That implication doesn't exist.
For a wine to be kosher, it must be produced and handled by observant Jews. That's the basic rule, but it is necessary to observe certain other rules as well, for kashrut to be maintained. Jewish dietary laws prohibit the eating of insects for example, and thus extra care would need to be taken to remove the insects in the wine (something that does not happen with much high-end wine. Yes, most unfiltered wine is likely to contain some amount of insect parts.)
Note: very little Isinglass actually makes it into the product.
It sounds as if literally the only way that Kosher wine is different is that it's not touched by people that are considered sub-par.
Catholics don't allow people from other faiths to become priests without converting. Is that discrimination?
But the taste of kosher wine is very different than normal wine. At least it was traditionally.
From what I've read, boiling wine makes it automatically kosher, almost regardless of what happens afterwards. But boiled wines don't taste as good. Flash pasturized wines are supposed to both taste good and be kosher.
The laws are ancient, from a time when wine was often sacrificed to idols.
Can't get drunk off of Manischewitz wine? Horse feathers. At age 12 or 13 some of my pals and I discovered the joys of Manischewitz Cream White Concord. I can assure you that intoxication indeed is possible, at least at that age. It even had social value. This kid who up until that point had been sort of an outcast became very popular because he had access to all the wine we could drink, though his popularity was somewhat limited because he (wisely, I now realize) refused to disclose his source. Even so, he was almost as popular as another kid who supplied the rest of us with ultra-hard-core pornography.
"The highest rates of alcoholism are among groups like native Americans who got high test alcohol through colonialism."
Uh, Scots and Irish? High rates of alcohol abuse, and both with a long, glorious history of making and consuming whisky (or, in the case of the Irish, whiskey).
I think this is good news, and I'm hoping it affects my wife's family's sadr next year. As a gentile with a robust taste for alcohol, I have never been able to make it through an entire glass of Manischewitz.
"Catholics don't allow people from other faiths to become priests without converting. Is that discrimination?"
What? How can one be a Catholic priest with being Catholic? You can be a priest, of course, but by definition one can't be Catholic without being Catholic. I honestly don't know what point you were trying to make.
RMH - Thanks for adding information that wasn't in the article, on insect parts. Are there any other differences?
Here's what I don't understand about Reform Jews drinking the wine: If the wine is only supposed to be touched by specific Sabbath-observant Jews, then doesn't the wine become non-Kosher the moment it touches the lips of a non-Sabbath-observant Jew? Hence it's impossible for a Reform Jew to drink Kosher wine.
"The theory is that they've had wine the longest, and therefore the genes for alcoholism were weeded out."
Bad theory. Mediterraneans tend not to have the mutation that affects carb metabolism, which is present in N European, N Asian and Native American populations. That si the probelm those populations have with metabolizing alcohol.
"Not Jewish doesn't equal sub-par. That implication doesn't exist.
For a wine to be kosher, it must be produced and handled by observant Jews."
Oh, really. If an Untouchable, or even a Shudra handles food, it is not edible for a Brahmin. Of course in that system, a Jew would be Untouchable, but the analogy is still valid. Would you really claim that there is no sense of "sub-par" operating? Just what is your sense of the term "unclean." No sense of "sub-par"?
Ann: Sort of - but it depends on who the observer is. An very strict Orthodox Jew might feel that the Reform Jew is not sufficiently Sabbath observant to serve the wine to himself. From his perspective, the wine may not be kosher anymore. But then again, it's not really his problem, is it?
The Reform Jew doesn't use the Orthodox Jew's measure of Sabbath observance, so for him, everything is, as they say, kosher.
Finally most Rabbis of all movements would likely approve of the effort put forth by the Reform Jew to drink kosher wine, even if they felt that his less than perfect Sabbath observance rendered the wine less than kosher.
"There are, of course, alchoholics from every ethnic group. But Mediterranean peoples have very low rates of alchoholism even when they aren't observant Muslims." MM
TR: Mediterranean countries have low rates of alcoholism, but I'm not sure if this extends to all Mediterranean descended people. I'm not sure it's been compellingly shown to be genetic.
That said you are apparently correct. Jewish men have a 2.8% rate of alcoholism compared to a 14% rate for non-Jewish men. At least according to the following.
http://www.jacsweb.org/lit-article_1.html
I didn't think this would be true because Jewish men have a much higher rate of gambling addiction than non-Jewish ones. (A study from Maryland, which I don't remember the site for) As the other group with an elevated rate of gambling addiction was Catholics I'd assumed alcoholism rates would be average or above average for Jews as well.
I didn't find stats on Jewish women versus non-Jewish women.
RMH: ... Yes, most unfiltered wine is likely to contain some amount of insect parts.
Yep. Ants, June bugs, spiders (technically not insects), yellowjackets. The very occasional rattlesnake...
"The theory is that they've had wine the longest, and therefore the genes for alcoholism were weeded out."
Bad theory. Mediterraneans tend not to have the mutation that affects carb metabolism, which is present in N European, N Asian and Native American populations. That si the probelm those populations have with metabolizing alcohol.
And isn't it possible that their long history of having wine is why they tend not to have that mutation, because those with the mutation got drunk all the time and died?
Found this amusing rant a few years ago when I was trying to figure out how late the Olive Garden was open.
Some comments:
There have been more and better kosher cheeses over the past few years. Kosher artisanal cheeses are somewhat new, to my knowledge.
Concerning wine, biblically wine is generally kosher (minus insect part issues) just as most beer is. However, at a certain point in history it was commonplace and easy for wine to be consecrated for idolatrous purposes to the gods. This prompted rabbinic rules to assure the wine drunk by Jews was non-consecrated.
As boiled wine was deemed inappropriate for consecration the laws concerning such wines - the mevushal wines - is more lax then for those kosher wines that are not boiled at some point. If the wine was not boiled - the non-mevushal wines - it was determined that it stayed kosher only so long as it could be guaranteed there was no consecration, i.e. the wine was either sealed or handled exclusively by Jews.
It has nothing to do with anyone being 'sub-par.'
At a certain point considerations of consecration were no longer a common concern yet the rules were maintained to assure that the Jewish community remain distinct. Now it is retained as a several thousand year old law kept by generations upon generations and therefore to be treated with great respect.
As a religious Jew, perhaps I am entitled to say: Religious Jews care only about the food. Wine, not so much (except for to my husband and me). So maybe bringing in good wine would attract some goyim (which I say affectionately), but won't effect the main clientele.
As for the touched by non-Jew thing, it IS discriminatory. But not because non-Jews are considered subpar. It is simply because breaking bread and eating a meal is considered a form of intimacy, and the Rabbis wanted to prevent intermarriage. The law has remained today, but not its spirit (no one cares about eating with non-Jews anymore, just about keeping the tradition). I understand why people are insulted, but don't consider it a value judgment. Rather, the Rabbis were concerned that non-Jews would be TOO happy with their non-Jewish friends, and, displaying characteristic Jewish over-reaction and fear, they felt that suddenly a nice meal would turn into the end of the Jewish people and faith. It's not anything against any non-Jewish "characteristics" per se.
My theory about the low rate of Jewish alcoholism is this: it used to be that when a Jewish boy was circumcised, the "anesthetic" they gave him was a rag dipped in whiskey. Not joking. So the first time a Jewish male touches booze, he wakes up with part of his, um, manhood gone.
I'm surprised we drink at all.
Thanks for helping clarify adina and hagtbg... For one last bit of clarification: kashrut doesn't concern whether things are 'clean' or 'unclean'. It concerns whether things are permitted to eat. The idea of 'cleanliness' is sometimes inferred, but it is not implied or stated. Kosher food is permitted to eat, traif food is not.
I'm surprised that nobody has pointed out that the removal of all insects and animal based finings from the wine means it is now allowable for vegans.
The market for Kosher wine may be larger than you think, if advertised correctly.
Alan, abusing alcohol does not automatically mean one is addicted to alcohol (is an "alcoholic"), although alcoholism is a common result of abusing it. Many members of my family abuse alcohol, but not a one suffers when unable to obtain any to drink.
Tobacco, on the other hand, is a real problem for us.
Um, I don't really understand this post. There already *are* really high quality kosher wines. All the great French wineries have a fraction of each year's vintage labelled kosher. The cap is hermetically sealed, which is a little bit of a problem for aging, but besides that it's as good as the "regular" stuff. Unless the Paris Beth Din has different rules than the New York Beth Din I don't understand why there shouldn't be high quality kosher wine in NY.
(Your analysis of restaurants' business models is spot on though.)
There are a couple of high-end Kosher restaurants in NYC, as has been mentioned, but I'd posit another reason for the dearth of truly high-end establishments: population.
Very few Jews keep strictly kosher to the extent that they will not eat at non-kosher establishments, and even fewer have the means and desire to patronize such a high-end restaurant on a regular basis. There just isn't enough of a clientèle to support such a business, even in New York.
"And isn't it possible that their long history of having wine is why they tend not to have that mutation, because those with the mutation got drunk all the time and died?"
1) No, because the mutation is affects the way you metabolize all carbs. It occurred in a population with restricted access to high-quality carbs, i.e not in Mediterranean populations, so it can't be an adaptation to some Mediterranean access to anything.
2) Wine is not all alcohol. Lots of different people have had alcohol for a long, long time. grapes are just easier, because they have so much more sugar than most fruits, and don't have to be oasted to make malt to ferment.