Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday this is celebrated not only in Mexico, but also in countries around the world. While many people think that this holiday is a Mexican Independence Day, this is not the case. It is actually the celebration of the victory the Mexicans won over the French during the Battle of Pueblo. Their official Independence Day is not until September.
Celebrating Cinco de Mayo
People celebrate Cinco de Mayo to celebrate Mexican pride and heritage. Celebrations usually include live Mexican music, fantastic foods and lots of joy and laughter. If you are Jewish and want to celebrate your Mexican heritage then there are several ways to create Kosher Mexican dishes for your Cinco de Mayo celebration.
Kosher Cinco de Mayo
Many Mexican dishes that have been Americanize mix dairy and meet liberally. However, homestyle traditional Mexican dishes are either meatless or dairyless, depending on the region. This is due primarily to cost of animal protein in Mexico and its limited availability in smaller villages. However, even if a recipe calls for both meat and dairy, you can easily make it Kosher by removing either the meat or the dairy ingredients. For example, if you are making tacos, you can either prepare a beef taco without cheese, or you can create a bean taco with cheese and no meat.
While converting most Mexican recipes to a Kosher Jewish recipe is fairly simple, there is a fly in the ointment that you need to watch out for, frying oil. The type of oil used to fry tortillas, chimichangas, floutas, and other delicious crispy Mexican foods, can trip you up. To protect your Kosher dishes from accidental contamination only use Kosher vegetable oil.
Another issue that can develop when creating Kosher Mexican dishes is the type of meat you use. In order to be Kosher, the meat has to be butchered in a very specific manner. Special care has to be taken during the slaughter of the animal, as well as during the handling of the meat after the animal has been killed. If your meat isn’t certified as Kosher, then your meat dishes may not qualify as 100 percent Kosher, so be careful.
Living a Kosher lifestyle really isn’t difficult. It just requires that you think a little more about what you are putting in your body and how you are preparing your Jewish recipes. While it takes a while to learn the rules associated to Kosher cooking, these rules will make it a lot easier for you to create low fat recipes and tasty desserts that will not only meet your current dietary needs, but that will also keep you connected to your heritage.
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