Kosher Blog

Pet Peeves, or the “Kosher Blog Style Guide”

A few culinary-linguistic pet peeves for discussion’s sake:

“au jus”
Beef, when served alongside its natural pan drippings, is referred to as au jus — French for with the juice. Most commonly, the phrase is used in the names “roast beef au jus” and “french dip au jus“.

My peeve (and this guy’s) is when people use “au jus” as a noun. Restaurants will occasionally advertise beef dishes “served with au jus” or “with au jus sauce” … creating a perfectly redundant translation: “with with the juice.” (A “99 Restaurant” ad running on the radio is the latest offender).

“challah bread”
Area restauranteur Todd English has a recipe for white chocolate bread pudding, which was featured on one of his PBS cooking shows. It looked delicious, but he referred to the bread he used as “challah bread.” The “Va’ad Supervision” signs at Shaw’s use the same phrase. We don’t say “baguette bread” or “brioche bread” … so just “challah,” please.

“kosher”
This one probably bugs me the most, especially because it’s done by Kosher Today magazine. Time and again, I see “kosher” used as a noun:

While venerable brands … still play a significant role in the growth of kosher through product diversification and expanded distribution….

…many Jews who had either abandoned kashrus or ignored its significance are returning to the observance of kosher.

…it indicates a more grassroots acceptance of kosher.

Writers just seem lazy around writing “kashrut,” “kosher food,” “kosher industry,” “kosher market,” “kosher production.” It’s an adjective, let’s keep it that way.