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Milk products and meat products may not be eaten together in the same meal, much less cooked together. Jewish law thus mandates a set of 'fence' laws that prevent this from happening; cooking meat and milk together is prohibited, even if it is not eaten, eating milk and meat together is prohibited even if they are not cooked together, and no benefit can be attained from such activity; for instance, one cannot even serve meat and milk together to an animal. Note that in most current forms of Judaism (but not amongst Karaim and Ethiopian Jews), this even applies to the flesh of birds, not just mammals. Jewish homes have two sets of silverware, cookware, cups, and dishes. One is for milk (Yiddish milchig, Hebrew halavi) dishes, and one is for meat (Yiddish fleishig or fleishedik, Hebrew basari) dishes. This prevents any trace of meat or dairy from being accidentally mixed. (Foods that contain neither milk nor meat are considered "neutral" -- Yiddish pareve, modern Hebrew parve.)
Jewish law considers glass (and some say Pyrex) to be non-absorbent; thus, one could use just a single set of glass plates and dishes. In practice, this is rarely done amongst Ashkenazi Jews not only because of the cost, but also because it is held that it would weaken the traditional system of kashrut observance. However, it is common within most religiously observant households to allow drinking glasses to be used for both dairy and meat meals, as long as they are thoroughly washed. Amongst Sephardim, glass dishes are often used for both milk and meat — including for hot food.
Most views hold that there is no wait needed to have meat soon after eating dairy, so long as the mouth is thoroughly cleaned. However, three distinct customs are observed regarding how long it is necessary to wait after eating meat before eating dairy foods again; most communities wait six hours, but German Jews wait only three hours, and Dutch Jews only one hour.
All foods which do not fall into the categories of meat or dairy are considered 'pareve' or neutral, and can be consumed freely with either meat or dairy. This includes all fruits and vegetables and foods derived exclusively from such sources; salt and other non-organic foodstuffs. Fish is considered pareve, and may be eaten directly before or after both meat and milk, but see Fish and Seafood below.
All fresh fruits and vegetables are kosher in principle. Jewish law requires that they be carefully checked and cleaned to make sure that there are no insects on them, as insects are not kosher (except certain Orthoptera, see above ). In the last century emphasis on this aspect has increased, especially in the Haredi Jewish community. Many Haredim avoid certain vegetables, such as broccoli, because they may be infested and exceedingly hard to clean. Responding to this issue, some companies now sell thoroughly washed and inspected produce for those who do not wish to do it themselves, even going to the trouble of filtering the wash water to ensure that it carries no microscopic creatures (see discussion of such animals in tap water, above ).
There are actually some restrictions on consumption of produce. The fruit of a tree for the first three years cannot be consumed (the law of orlah). For crops grown in the Holy Land, tithes must be taken and allocated according to the precepts of the Bible, otherwise the entire crop is not considered Kosher.
Unprocessed grains and cereals are kosher. Processed items (e.g. dry cereals, baked goods) may contain small quantities of non-kosher ingredients; therefore Orthodox Judaism holds that these goods should generally not be consumed unless there is a hechsher (mark of rabbinical certification of kashrut) on the product. Conservative Judaism often is more lenient, and holds that a careful reading of the ingredients is sufficient.
During the 8 days of Passover there are additional restrictions on what foods may be eaten. Jewish law forbids Jews from eating any leavened product, and furthermore any product made from the so-called five species — conventionally viewed to be wheat, rye, barley, spelt, or oats (other than matzo, bread which has been ritually supervised from harvest to packaging to ensure that no leavening has occurred), which may have been inadvertently briefly moistened sometime after harvest, and begun the fermentation process which is key to leavening. Note that the inclusion of oats amongst the five species ( Rashi) is contested; the Yerushalmi and Rambam have what we know as two-rowed barley. Rye is also contested, but is more closely related in appearance, properties and genetic affiliation. Ashkenazic Jews are restricted from eating rice and legumes during Passover, while Sephardic Jews are permitted rice and typically legumes as well. In order to prevent inadvertent consumption of hametz (chometz), foods which are not Kosher for Passover, observant Jews maintain an entirely separate set of dishes, cutlery, pots, pans, etc. for Passover which can never be allowed to contact such foods, much as they maintain separate sets of such items for milk and for meat. Before Passover, the house is rigorously cleaned to eliminate any remnants of hometz, no matter how small. Many Jews who can afford it even maintain a separate kitchen for use during Passover, to eliminate the need for such a laborious procedure in their regular kitchen, with the risk of overlooking some nook or cranny somewhere where a crumb has lodged.
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