Kosher-style vs kosher catering: what the difference means for your event

The short answer

Kosher describes food that meets the Jewish dietary laws (kashrut) and has been verified by a supervising authority. In Toronto that authority is most often the Kashruth Council of Canada, known as COR, though other agencies certify some businesses. Certification covers the ingredients, the equipment, the kitchen and the process. A recipe alone can never be kosher.

Kosher-style describes a menu, not a kitchen. It means dishes from the Jewish culinary tradition (brisket, matzo ball soup, bagels and lox, latkes, rugelach) served in a way that respects some of the rules: no pork, no shellfish, and meat not served with dairy. Nobody supervises the ingredients or the cookware, and the food is not kosher.

We are not COR-supervised, and our kitchen is not certified kosher. We say that at the top of this article because the difference matters most to exactly the people reading it: hosts who are trying to feed guests correctly.

What actually makes catering kosher

People are sometimes surprised by how much of kosher certification has nothing to do with the dish on the plate. A supervised caterer typically works under all of the following:

• Certified ingredients. Meat and poultry come from certified slaughter and processing. Packaged goods, oils, spices, cheese and wine carry an approved certification symbol, because a harmless-looking product can contain non-kosher additives.
• A kosher kitchen. Equipment is dedicated or has been made kosher under supervision, and meat and dairy have separate utensils, cookware and often separate work areas. Most supervised caterers run either a meat kitchen or a dairy kitchen.
• A mashgiach. A trained supervisor from the certifying agency oversees deliveries, preparation and cooking. COR describes caterers' kitchens (commissaries) as supervised by a working mashgiach on site.
• Supervision at the event. When food leaves the commissary for a supervised event, COR describes the mashgiach's role as making sure the food is not reheated in non-kosher equipment or served on non-kosher dishes. The chain has to hold all the way to the guest.

Standards also differ between agencies and communities. Some guests accept one certification and not another, and some follow stricter practices, such as requiring particular meat standards. That is why the guest who keeps kosher, or their rabbi, is the only person who can say what is acceptable to them.

Kosher and kosher-style side by side

Cost follows from the table. Supervision fees, certified ingredients and dedicated equipment mean supervised kosher catering usually costs more per person than a comparable unsupervised menu. That is not overpricing; it is the price of the verification your guests are relying on.

When you need supervised kosher catering

Choose a supervised kosher caterer if any of these is true:

• Some guests keep kosher. Even a handful. A kosher-style menu gives them nothing they can eat, and a respectful host does not want observant grandparents sitting in front of an empty plate at a bar mitzvah.
• The venue requires it. Many synagogues, some Jewish community centres and some banquet halls only allow food from caterers under an approved supervision. Ask the venue office before you speak to any caterer, because the answer decides who you can hire.
• The host organization has a policy. Jewish schools, community agencies, camps and some seniors' residences set kashrut requirements for anything served under their name, including off-site events.
• It is a Passover meal for observant guests. Kosher for Passover has additional rules about ingredients and equipment, and only caterers certified for Passover can provide it.
• The event is religious in character and the community keeps kosher. A shiva house for a family that keeps a kosher home, a brit milah or a kiddush in a synagogue all fall here.

If you are not sure, ask. Phoning two or three older relatives, or the rabbi officiating, takes ten minutes and prevents the most uncomfortable mistake a host can make.

When kosher-style is a good fit

Kosher-style is the right choice when the goal is the food and the tradition, and no guest needs certification. We see it most often for:

• Bar and bat mitzvah parties held at a non-religious venue for families who do not keep kosher
• An office Hanukkah lunch, a Rosh Hashanah meal for colleagues or a break-fast after Yom Kippur for a mixed group
• A milestone birthday or anniversary where the family wants the dishes they grew up with
• A shiva meal where the family has told the caterer supervision is not required

In each case the host has already confirmed who is coming and what they need. Kosher-style works because it is chosen deliberately, not because it is a cheaper substitute for a guest list that includes observant people.

Mixed guest lists: the sealed-meal option

A common Toronto situation: a corporate dinner for 120, of whom six keep kosher, at a hotel or loft that has no kosher kitchen. The usual answer is sealed kosher meals. A supervised kosher caterer prepares the meals, which arrive double-wrapped with the certification seal intact. They are served to those guests unopened, with disposable cutlery, and the guest breaks the seal.

Three details decide whether this works:

• Order through a certified source early. Sealed meals are made to order and need the guest names and counts well ahead.
• Do not let anyone open or re-plate them. Once the seal is broken by staff, or the meal is reheated in a regular oven, the guest can no longer rely on it. If hot meals need warming, follow the supervised caterer's instructions exactly.
• Serve them with the same care as the main meal. Deliver the sealed meal at the same moment as the table's course, so observant guests are not eating alone after everyone else has finished.

This approach suits a small number of observant guests. When most of the room keeps kosher, book a supervised caterer for the whole event.

Common misunderstandings

• No pork means kosher. It does not. Kashrut also governs how meat is slaughtered and prepared, which animals and fish are permitted, and how meat and dairy are separated.
• Kosher chicken from the grocery store, cooked in our kitchen, is kosher. Certified raw ingredients stop being kosher once they are cooked with non-kosher equipment. The certification has to cover the cooking, too.
• Vegetarian or vegan food is automatically kosher. Plant-based food avoids the meat and dairy question, but ingredients, wine, cheese substitutes and equipment still need supervision for an observant guest.
• A kosher-style caterer can become kosher for one event. Certification is an ongoing arrangement between a kitchen and an agency. It cannot be switched on for a Saturday.
• Kosher salt makes food kosher. The name comes from its use in preparing meat. It says nothing about the dish.

How we handle kosher requests

When someone asks us about kosher food, we start with the same three questions: does any guest keep kosher, does the venue or organization have a kashrut policy, and is it a meat meal or a dairy meal. If the answer to either of the first two is yes, we tell you plainly that you need a supervised kosher caterer, and we suggest you contact COR or ask your synagogue office which caterers they currently supervise. We would rather lose the booking than serve food someone cannot eat.

If supervision is not needed, we can talk about a menu in the kosher-style tradition, and our kosher-style menu page lists the dishes and principles we follow. Every proposal we send for that kind of menu states in writing that the food is not kosher and not supervised, so the host can share that with guests. For family celebrations more broadly, see cultural celebrations, and for other dietary requirements, our dietary catering overview.

If you are planning around several requirements at once, such as kosher, halal and celiac-safe meals at one event, start with the guest list and the certification each person needs. The menu comes after that, not before.