TB Khullin 96b-97 Basic kosher concepts concerning mixtures

Starting with the Mishnah on daf TB Khullin 96b and continuing for the next four days we shall be studying basic kosher concepts when it comes to mixtures.

There are two different types of mixtures. The first type of mixture is יָבֵשׁ בְּיָבֵשׁ two dry objects. For example, if one nonkosher hotdog accidentally becomes mixed in with two kosher hotdogs, the nonkosher hotdog becomes annulled and all three hotdogs may be eaten with the proviso not at the same time. Annulment in cases of יָבֵשׁ בְּיָבֵשׁ only requires a majority of kosher items.

The second type of mixture is לָךְ בְּלָךְ two liquids mixed together. If the forbidden taste permeates the liquid mixture, נוֹתֵן טַעַם, the mixture is forbidden to eat because we consider the taste to be synonymous with the forbidden liquid, טָעָם כְּעִיקָר.

To transfer taste we need heat and a medium. The medium can be a liquid or even fat because the fat when cooked will liquefy. Obviously cooking over a fire is a heat source. Salting the meat is considered a heat source like roasting while pickling something in the liquid for 24 hours is considered a heat source like cooking.

How do we determine whether taste has been permeated when we can’t taste the mixture lest it be trief? The Gemara provides three solutions. 1, we create a working model. One relates to it as though the forbidden food were meat imparting flavor to a turnip. If meat the volume of the forbidden food would impart flavor to a turnip the volume of the permitted food when they were cooked together, then the entire mixture is forbidden. 2, Give the mixture to a non-Jewish chef to taste and ask him whether the forbidden taste has permeated the food. Rashi demands that the chef innocently answers the question without understanding the halakhic implications. Tosefot ד"ה סָמְכִינַן אַקַפִילָא teaches that we may rely on a professional chef because he won’t lie and ruin his reputation. 3, If there are 60 more times the permitted substance in the forbidden substance, the forbidden substance is annulled.

“The Gemara summarizes the guidelines that determine when an item cooked with another item affects the status of the mixture. Rava said: The Sages said that there are cases where one relies on a Jew tasting the food (e.g. terumah is mixed with non-sacred food. Only a kohen is permitted to eat terumah while an Israelite may not. Consequently, one may ask the kohen the question whether the taste has been transferred), and the Sages said that there are some cases where one relies on a gentile cook to taste the food,  and the Sages said that there are cases where the mixture is permitted if there is sixty times as much permitted food as forbidden food. Therefore, in a case where the mixture is a type of food mixed with food not of its own type, so that there is a difference in taste between the two components, when there are Jews for whom the mixture is permitted, one relies on a Jew tasting the mixture. This is the halakha when teruma is cooked with non-sacred food. When the mixture is potentially forbidden, e.g., in the case of meat cooked with milk, one relies on a gentile cook to taste it.

"And if the mixture is composed of a type of food mixed with food of its own type, where one cannot ascertain whether the forbidden component has imparted flavor; or if it is composed of a type of food mixed with food not of its own type when the mixture may be forbidden and it is a case where there is no gentile cook available to taste it, the mixture is permitted if there is sixty times as much permitted food as forbidden food.” (Sefaria.org translation)

 

As we continue to learn about mixtures in the coming days, I shall share with you other key principles and ideas.