Monticello, NY - Kosher Sushi Gains Local Fans

Monticello, NY - There's Izzy's for knishes. Fialkoff's for onion rolls and challah. Meal Mart for kreplach and kishke. Now there's Simply Sushi, Mazel Wok and the Country Cafe for kosher sushi.

Sushi for observant Jews has come to the Catskills after flooding parts of Brooklyn and spreading as far as Brazil, France and England over the past 10 years.
Some summer visitors say the traditional Japanese meal has become close to a staple in the Jewish diet, historically heavy on baking and frying. "Sushi is the new Chinese," said Brocha Metzger, the wife of a prominent Manhattan rabbi, after finishing a grilled salmon roll at Simply Sushi on East Broadway in Monticello. "A high-end Jewish function will include sushi. It's de rigeur."

Sushi is "vinegared rice," wrapped around raw or cooked fish or other ingredients and rolled with seaweed - in one of its forms.
Kosher sushi isn't much different. Mainly, there's a restriction against using shellfish. Kosher fish must have fins and scales.

Chaim Friedman, a tutor in Brooklyn hitching a ride to Monticello from Woodbourne on Tuesday, said he picks up a sushi platter every Saturday night after the Jewish shabbas. Those platters have always included whitefish, salmon and salad, he said. "Now sushi's on top."
Still, many Orthodox Jews have never heard of sushi or have no desire to try it. "It's just raw," said Moshe Davidson, visiting downtown Woodbourne on Tuesday to pick up props for a play. "Fruits and vegetables I like raw. (Fish) I like cooked. I guess I'm not 'with it.'"
But Sam Weisberger, a manager at Mountain Fruits, a kosher grocery store in Monticello, said Jews should be used to raw fish if they eat salted herring. That's not cooked either, he said.

Contrary to popular belief, rabbis do not bless the foods to make them kosher. Only fish with fins and scales may be eaten. And sushi ingredients, like rice, must not be mixed with non-kosher ingredients. Many of the ingredients can be certified as kosher.