Quick Rules And Requirements Regarding What Is Considered Kosher For Food

There are requirements and rules in the Torah about what is Kosher and what is not kosher.

General rules

Jews are required to say a blessing before meals and after meals.

Jews are expected to wash their hands before every meal.

If the food is not prepared by a Jew, it is considered unclean.

Animals

Animals that are considered clean and can thus be eaten should be slaughtered in a ritualistic way for their meat to be kosher. 

Ritualistic slaughtering of animals involves a desanguination process. During this process, the slaughtered animal has to be drained of blood. This is  because it is not permitted to eat blood.

The animal is also salted as this helps to draw out excess blood.

Kosher animals are those that have cloven/split hooves and also chew the cud. 

Examples of animals that don't fit this criteria and thus can't be eaten are:

- Pigs: They don't chew the cud and hence they are not clean and can't be eaten.

- Camels: They chew the cud but don't have split hooves so they are not clean and can't be eaten.

A kid (goat) is not to be cooked in it's mother's milk.

Fish

Fish needs to have both fins and scales to be considered clean and thus kosher.

Birds

Predatory birds are not kosher for eating.

Insects

Most insects and crawling things are not clean and are thus not kosher.