Processed fruits and vegetables
From Halachipedia
General rule
- If one grinds a vegetable or grain not from the five grains and cook it, if the vegetable is still recognizable in the product then the Bracha is the same the vegetable, however if it’s ground and unrecognizable then the Bracha is shehakol unless it’s still intact. [1]
Mashed potato
Peanut butter
- Peanut butter is Shehakol because it’s because crushed and unrecognizable as a peanut. [2]
Jam and Jelly
- The Bracha on a jam or jelly is the same as the actual fruit only if peices of the fruit are recognizable in it. Otherwise, the bracha is shehakol. [3]
- Strawberry or cherry jelly is Shehakol because it retains neither the form or look of the fruit. [4]
Guacamole
- The bracha for regular (thick) guacamole if eaten alone is HaEtz according to many opinions and Shehakol according to others. However, in the unusual case that the guacamole is very thin like a liquid the Bracha should be Shehakol. [5]
References
- ↑ The Shulchan Aruch 202:3 rules like the Rambam who says that even if a fruit or vegetable is totally ground up to the point that it is not recognizable the Bracha is still the same as the original fruit or vegetable. [This is explained by Mishna Brurah 202:41.] However, the Rama (ibid.) argues that it is preferable to make a Shehakol on certain jams. The Mishna Brurah 202:42 concludes that the halacha follows the Shulchan Aruch as long as the vegetable did not loose its form totally and is unrecognizable. So holds Vezot HaBracha (pg 100, chapter 12) and Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 403-4, chapter 22).
- ↑ Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 410, chapter 22) in name of Rav Shlomo Zalman
- ↑ The book Laws of Brachot (by Rabbi Binyomin Forst) in the index writes that for apricot jam- there's a shehakol if there's no solid pieces in the jam, and HaEtz if there's solid pieces in it. However, by Etrog Jam he writes simply that it's HaEtz. The book VeZot HaBracha (by Rabbi Alexander Aryeh) writes that for Etrog as a jam the bracha is HaEtz only if it has pieces of fruit it in that are recognizable. It seems to me that the bracha on jam is always dependent on whether you recognize the pieces in it- there being no difference between Etrog and any other fruit. It's possible that the etrog jams are usually chunky and other fruits sometimes have chucks and sometimes not.
- ↑ Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 404, chapter 22) in name of Rav Shlomo Zalman and Rabbi Pinchas Sheinburg
- ↑ The Shaarei HaBracha (chap 23, pg 630) writes that if guacamole is blended and liquidy the Bracha is Shehakol, however, if it is still has pieces of avocado it is HaEtz. In the footnote (#470) he writes that even if it is liquidy theoretically it should be HaEtz (since avocado is usually blended, see Mishna Brurah 202:44) but concludes that he can not rule definitively that it should be HaEtz and remains with his above ruling to say Shehakol (because it is like a drink). Similarly, the Peni HaShulchan 202:7(1) (pg 83) writes that guacamole is HaEtz because the texture of the avocado is recognizable unless it is blended and is so thin like a liquid in which case it would be Shehakol. However, Piskei Teshuvot (Siman 202 note 87, pg 691) writes that guacamole is Shehakol since it is mixed in with other ingredients such as onions. In Siman 202:20 he writes that potato kugel or laktakas are Shehakol since eggs and other ingredients are mixed in.
