KASHRUT AND MENUS

Mandelbaum is a kosher college, which means we follow the food rules of kashrut in our kitchen and dining room.

What is kashrut?

Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws for keeping kosher. The Hebrew word kosher means ‘fit’ (in this context, fit to eat). Our kitchen strictly follows the kashrut.

One of the basic principles of kashrut is total separation of meat and dairy products. Meat and dairy may not be cooked or eaten together.

Some animals are not considered kosher. Meat from grazing animals that chew the cud and have cloven hooves (beef, lamb, goat and deer)is kosher. Pork, camel and rabbit are not. Domesticated fowl such as chicken and turkey are kosher but wild birds are not. Only seafood with fins and scales are kosher, so most fish are fine to eat but calamari, octopus and any shellfish (crab, lobster, prawns, clams etc.) are not.

The Mandelbaum kitchen is kashered for the festival of Pesach and visitors are welcome to dine here. Meal passes need to be purchased beforehand at admin@mandelbaum.usyd.edu.au

How does it work in practice?

The Mandelbaum kitchen is separated into two sections,meat and dairy, each with its own dishes, utensils and cookware. Breakfast and lunch are prepared in the dairy kitchen and dinner is prepared in the meat kitchen. The two ‘dairy’ meals always include non-meat protein. Fish and eggs — along with fruit, vegetables, grains, pasta and so on — belong to a third category, pareve, of foods are neither meat nor dairy and can therefore be prepared and eaten with either.

We ask residents not to bring any outside food into the dining room, as we need to keep this space kosher.

Menus

The Mandelbaum kitchen is separated into two sections, meat and dairy, each with its own dishes, utensils and cookware.

As you can see from our menu, we serve a wide variety of excellent food. We consult with a nutritionist to make sure we’re providing the right balance to enable all residents to eat well, whatever their dietary preferences are.

Certification

Mandelbaum House is certified under the NSW Kashrut Authority. A feature piece about our college can be found here: Kashrut Authority of Australia feature article 2020.