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Kosher Cooking Carnival – Elul

grapes by batya medad
Grapes, photograph by Batya Medad

Batya Medad has posted a delicious and beautiful Kosher Cooking Carnival for the Jewish month of Elul.

Ilana-Davita says

That's a nice photo. I wonder whether the grapes are edible or for wine. I think sometimes they are both.

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Leora says

Her photo shows the heat of the Israeli summer.

I suppose the grapes in a vineyard for wine would be edible, right? But they probably make a lot more money from the wine.

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Ilana-Davita says

I suppose the grapes in a vineyard for wine would be edible, right?
Not necessarily. I read an article about famous wines in France where they mention a certain type of grapes which make great wine but are not edible. They are not dangerous, just not nice to eat.

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Leora says

Interesting. Where did I read about kosher vineyards in France? Oh, yes, it was a French Jewish cookbook I took out of the library. The vineyards are run by the rabbis and their students, under the supervision of the vineyard owner.

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Ilana-Davita says

In fact (sorry if I sound fastidious) but it is the way wine is made and/or supervised that makes it kosher or not, not the grapes themselves.
P.S.:My brother was a winemaker.

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Leora says

But in New York or California or in Israel the vineyard owner himself (or herself?) is Jewish. I think France is unique in how it processes kosher wine. French kosher wine might be the same as the non-kosher, since the owner of the vineyard is the same.

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Mrs. S. says

Hmm. I imagine that here in Israel, winemaking - or, rather, handling the grapes themselves - is different from New York or California. After all, Israeli winemakers/vineyard owners are privileged to have the mitzvot of shmitah, trumot u'ma'asrot, neta revai etc...

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Leora says

True, but they do share in common that the vineyards are owned by Jews, which is not true in France.

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Batya says

Thanks for the mention. Those red grapes are delicious for eating. Our green grapes were used for wine and eating last year.

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Ilana-Davita says

In France winemaking is supervised by some rabbis who only come at the crucial moment. I seem to remember that it is when the vats are opened so they can check what is added (or not) to the wine.

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