Aren’t we already eating buffalo over here?
While we’ve all be munching on buffalo for some time now here in the States, occasional contributor Danny reports that Israel’s chief Sephardi rabbi has declared kosher the consumption of buffalo.
Why the separate consideration? As far as I understand, in these parts, we enjoy furry American Buffalo, of the genus Bison, whereas Israel has access to Water Buffalo, of the genus Bubalus.
Good news for Israel’s buffalo industry and Italian Jewish community which, according to Arutz Sheva, uses them to this day for their milk and meat.
Also mentioned in the article: Yak is next! Mmm, yak!
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Wonderful! Does this mean we’ll be getting hechshered fior di latte in the near duture?
Well, it’s not “good news” for the Italian Jews — they’ve been eating it for centuries, and have no need for R Amar’s hechsher. Nor are they set to profit from this decision, since any demand in Israel for buffalo products will be filled by locally raised animals. So this news makes no difference to them.
I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing for Fred Flintstone.
Despite not needing the heksher, Milhouse, it should still be good news for Israel’s Italian Jews because it means a larger, more secure kosher buffalo industry for everyone.
And maybe an enterprising paisan will start exporting Israeli fior di latte!
American Buffalo? Kosher? I should go bison.
Apparently authentic mozzarella is made from Bison milk, so apparently now Israeli Jews can have real kosher mozzarella. That’s a good thing, right? :-)
I am just trying to imagine what hechshered fior di latte from Israel would cost here in the states. The shipping costs will be tremendous, as it is meant to be eaten within a few days, or even hours, of production, and needs to be shipped in a climate-controlled environment. That said, I would pay ANY PRICE for kosher mozzarella di bufala, having tasted the real stuff.
Oh, and to Ba’alat Teshuva, mozzarella is made from the milk of the water buffalo, not bison (two different species). Actually that’s what this post is about, that in the states we have Bison and in Europe/Mediterranean they have Bubalus (or water buffalo).
Oops. I got them mixed up. Thanks for correcting me.
I imagine that the mozzarella di bufala market would open up in Israel long before anything came here. One more potential reason why it would be fun to make aliyyah. Ah well.
my son is in Tibet, and he is asking if the Yak is a Kosher animal,so he can eat it
thank you,
Bella
Yes, it is. I ate yak at the OU Kosher Experience dinner in LA this summer. It was good. But unless your son’s a shochet he still won’t be able to eat it. Unless his question’s really about the milk. Yes, yak milk is perfectly kosher.