How did brisket become a Passover staple?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| I'm not Jewish (as is probably evident from my question) and we don't eat much red meat, but seeing so many recipes for brisket as we approach Passover, my curiosity -- and taste buds -- have been piqued. And, I'm remembering with pleasure the delicious pot roasts my Greek Orthodox grandma used to make. So, I'm thinking I might cook a brisket, but I'm also wondering how and why brisket has become such a tradition for Passover. Is it an immigrant thing? (Again, thinking of my own family's heritage.) |
Anonymous
It's not for most of the Jews in the world. It is a very Ashkenazi-normative, U.S. thing. My Greek Jewish grandparents had lamb (obvi). Brisket is a cheap cut of meat, Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants to this country were traditionally very poor. |
Anonymous
|
"Ashkenazi jews have eaten brisket during Passover for a very long time and for pretty sensible reasons. Per Jewish custom, the hindquarters of the beef are not kosher, meaning that Jews have always had fewer cuts to choose from. In addition, brisket has historically been one of the more affordable cuts since it comes from a heavily worked muscle that requires a lot of time to cook. As a result, many Central and Eastern European jews ate brisket as far back as the 1700s, especially during food-centric gatherings like Passover that require a lot of food."
https://www.foodandwine.com/meat-poultry/beef/brief-history-brisket |
Anonymous
| My bubbe's bubbe's bubbe made it once and everyone liked it, so it got passed down for over 100 years and here we are. |
Anonymous
| Also no dairy or pasta/bread/etc. So brisket and potatoes and a vegetable can be a nice Passover meal. |
Anonymous
No dairy is not a Pesach prerequisite. |
Anonymous
Yes that is right (PP here). But you can't do the meat and milk together and a brisket meal is easy to do without dairy. (eg, many Italian meat dishes have cheese). |
Anonymous
| OP here -- thanks, all! |
Anonymous
If you're serving brisket then no dairy is a requirement for a traditional meal. Yes, there are people who follow rules about chametz and don't separate meat and dairy, but that's certainly outside of tradition. |
Anonymous
|
Only certain cuts of beef are kosher, and many of the cuts that other cultures use for a large family gathering aren't. So, brisket is more popular for that reason.
But, in addition, many cultures serve large cuts of roasted meats for holiday, because it's a day when you've got a lot of people to serve, and are probably going to be at home preparing for the holiday meal so you can keep an eye on something in the oven. Brisket is like turkey for Thanksgiving, or ham for Easter in that it's not super expensive, and it's easy to cook for a crowd. |
Anonymous
| It's because people following culture rather than scripture. Scripture specifically commands people to share a lamb with their poorer neighbors. No one should be eating brisket. The principal of Pesach in the paleo Hebrew is sharing and community. |
Anonymous
The idea of dairy & meat is not scripturally based but rather rabbincal rules. In scripture, Avraham served Yahuah & the two angels with him bread & a calf dressed with milk & butter. See: And Avraham hastened into the tent unto El-Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. And Avraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hastened to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. BERE'SHIYTH (GENESIS) 18:6-8 |
Anonymous
This is why it's so stupid when people say that they want to have a Seder exactly like Jesus did. Jesus did not live under Kosher rules. Jesus did not celebrate Seder like Jews do now. Judaism was not practiced as we know it. |
Anonymous
| Many Jews, myself included, have a Passover meal that is not Kosher so milk and meat is fine. Kosher for Passover and Kosher are two different things. |
Anonymous
Well, as gross as I think it is for Christians to co-opt seders, Jesus kept Kashrut and other Jewish laws - because he was a Jew. And using the story of Abraham as an example is - odd - a) it would have been before the Torah was given to the Jews; b) Abraham is said to have kept all of the laws of the Torah anyway; c) his guests were non-Jews, so he could serve them whatever; d) one can eat meat almost immediately after eating dairy - so it's unclear whether they ate the dairy as a first course, and then ate the meat, etc. |