11

I understood that cheese is made by throwing in Stomach hide into milk and letting it congeal.

How was kosher cheese made (where one's not allowed to mix milk and meat)? Now we use chemicals or microbes, but how was it done naturally?

Monica Cellio
  • 56,645
  • 10
  • 113
  • 348
  • Here's an article you might find interesting. http://www.kosherquest.org/book.php?id=CHEESE.htm I'd try to wrap that into an answer to your question, but I am hopelessly ignorant on the subject, and would probably screw something up. –  Jan 06 '15 at 20:23
  • 1
    I would like to hear halachic reasons: "If the source of rennet is a kosher species of animal, ritually slaughtered under rabbinical supervision, it may be used to turn milk into cheese. For rather involved halachic reasons, there is no problem of meat and milk mixing in such usage." – rbp Jan 06 '15 at 20:47
  • 1
    @rbp: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/29213/kashrut-of-rennet-for-cheese-difference-between-rennet-and-gelatin – Gershon Gold Jan 06 '15 at 21:05
  • http://koltorah.org/ravj/13-10%20Gevinat%20Akum%20-%20Part%20I.htm – Gershon Gold Jan 06 '15 at 21:08

1 Answers1

7

Very good question with a simple answer. It used to be made from rennet obtained from the cow's 4th stomach. I recall that almost all Miller's and Migdal cheeses were made this way.

As to why this is kosher as well as not considered mixing meat and milk, see this article and this M.Y. question .

As this method has become costly and, perhaps, the market has been trying to cater to vegetarians, this method is no longer being used for kosher cheese, AFAIK.

I did see a Google reference to a Feb. 1991 article in Kashrus Magazine addressing this question. However, I could not locate this old article on the kashrus.com web site.

Community
  • 1
DanF
  • 70,416
  • 8
  • 59
  • 244