Processed fruits and vegetables

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General rule

  1. If one grinds a vegetable or fruit, whether or not one cooks 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. According to Sephardic practice, the Bracha does not change, even if the fruit is unrecognizable. Some Ashkenazi poskim maintain that the Bracha for tree-fruits becomes Ha'adama, but the Bracha for vegetables remains the same. [1]
  2. However, if a certain fruit or vegetable is normally eaten crushed up the Bracha would be the same as a the fruit or vegetable. [2]
  3. If fruit of the Shivat Haminim (grapes, figs, promegrante, olive, dates) was mashed to the point which it required a Bracha of Shehakol, which Bracha Achrona to make is questionable. Therefore, one should eat a Kezayit of food which has a Bracha Achrona of Al HaEtz and a food which has a Bracha Achrona of Boreh Nefashot. However, if one doesn't have those foods, one may make an Al HaEtz.[3] According to Sephardic custom, this is unnecessary, and the Brachot (Rishonah/Acharonah) do not change.[4]

Jam and Jelly

  1. 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.[5] According to Sephardic poskim, the beracha remains the same even if there are no recognizable pieces.[6] According to some Ashkenazic poskim, if the Bracha was previously HaEtz, it becomes HaAdama, and if it was previously HaAdama, it remains the same. [7]
  2. Strawberry or cherry jelly is Shehakol because it retains neither the form or look of the fruit. [8] According to Sephardic poskim, strawberry jam would be HaAdama, and cherry jam would be HaEtz. [9] According to some Ashkenazic poskim, they would both be HaAdama. [10]

Guacamole

  1. 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. [11]

Peanut butter

  1. Peanut butter is Shehakol because it’s because crushed and not recognizable as a peanut. [12]However, some say that the bracha is HaAdama.[13]

Mashed potato

  1. See Corn and potato products

Sources

  1. ↑
    • The Gemara Brachot 38a concludes that the Bracha for Tarima (processed dates) is HaEtz because the actual fruit remains. Rashi (D”H Tarima) explains that Tarima is dates which were crushed but not pulverized. However, Rambam (Brachot 8:4) explains that even if one removed the pits and crushed it and kneaded it into a dough the Bracha would still be HaEtz. The S”A 202:7 rules like the Rambam and the Rama rules like Rashi. Yalkut Yosef 202:22 and Halacha Brurah 202:25 rule like Shulchan Aruch, that even if the fruit or vegetable is completely pulverized, the Bracha does not change.
    • The Mishna Brurah 208:42 concludes that whenever the fruit is recognizable (because of the form and texture) the Bracha would be like the fruit, however, when it’s so processed that it’s not recognizable the bracha is Shehakol. Vezot HaBracha (pg 100, chapter 12) and Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 403-4, chapter 22) agree.
    • However, the Laws of Brachos (Rabbi Forst, pg 303-5) explains the Mishna Brurah as saying that even for an unrecognizable pulp one should make the bracha of the original fruit. Only something which completely lost it's solid form is shehakol. He therefore writes that apple sauce is HaEtz, and mashed potatoes and peanut butter are HaAdama.
    • Rabbi Hershel Schachter in Brachot Ha'nehenin (31:15) quotes an alternative approach from Rabbi Soloveitchik; Rosh (Brachot 6:18) writes that for the Bracha of Ha'adama, it is unnecessary for the vegetable to be recognizable. For example, the Bracha for a vegetable broth would be Ha'adama, even though the vegetables were strained out. However, he is unsure if the same rule applies to strained fruit soup. Therefore, Rabbi Soloveitchik felt that it would be preferable to recite Ha'adama on mashed fruits - like applesauce - since Ha'adama is more specific than Shehakol, and Ha'adama doesn't require tzurat ha'pri. Likewise, the Bracha for mashed vegetables would remain Ha'adama. Rabbi Schachter personally follows this opinion (See OU Document X-18 and HalachaDoc LG-A9).
  2. ↑ S”A 203:7 rules that spices which were mixed together with sugar the Bracha would be that of the spices. The Mishna Brurah 203:12 adds that this is true even if the spices were totally pulverized and not recognizable nonetheless it retains it’s Bracha because it’s normal to crush the spices in this way. Halachos of Brachos (Rabbi Bodner, chap 22, pg 402, note 30) limits this Mishna Brurah to where the majority of the time it is made in this way.
  3. ↑ Mishna Brurah 202:42, Sh"t Igrot Moshe YD 2:25
  4. ↑ S"A O.C. 202:7
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ S"A O.C. 202:7, Yalkut Yosef ibid., Halacha Berurah ibid.
  7. ↑ R' Joseph B. Soloveitchik, R' Hershel Schachter (in Brachot Ha'nehenin (31:15), OU Document X-18, HalachaDoc LG-A9
  8. ↑ Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 404, chapter 22) in name of Rav Shlomo Zalman and Rabbi Pinchas Sheinburg
  9. ↑ S"A O.C. 202:7
  10. ↑ R' Joseph B. Soloveitchik, R' Hershel Schachter (in Brachot Ha'nehenin (31:15), OU Document X-18, HalachaDoc LG-A9
  11. ↑ 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 latkes are Shehakol since eggs and other ingredients are mixed in.
  12. ↑ Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 410, chapter 22) in name of Rav Shlomo Zalman
  13. ↑ Laws of Brachos (Rabbi Forst, pg 303-5), R' Joseph B. Soloveitchik, R' Hershel Schachter (in Brachot Ha'nehenin (31:15), OU Document X-18, HalachaDoc LG-A9
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