Our mission is to create exceptional dining experiences that delight the senses, inspire minds, and foster community. Fostering community means many things, including understanding and teaching about different eating patterns.
In this three-part series, we explore halal and kosher dietary laws. While many people associate the two because they are both used by religious groups and forbid consuming pork, there are key differences that are explained in this post. In future posts, we’ll take a closer look at halal and kosher foods, respectively.
| Category | Kosher | Halal |
| Land animals | Must have cloven hooves and chew cud | Must survive on grass and leaves |
| Pork | No | No |
| Birds | Listed in Torah (basically no predatory species) | No predatory species |
| Seafood | Must have fins and scales | No predatory species |
| Ritual slaughter required | Yes | Yes |
| Who can perform slaughter | Shochet (a trained Jew) | “People of the Book” (Muslims, Christians, Jews) |
| Entire animal can be used | No | Yes |
| Milk & meat combined | No (Parve foods have neither milk nor meat and can be eaten anytime). | Yes |
| Alcohol | Yes (Wine must be handled by an observant Jew or flash-pasteurized – mevushal wine). | No (Islam prohibits all intoxicating alcohols, liquors, wine and drugs). |
