Once upon a time "kosher" was a term intimately linked with esoteric, ethnic-sounding foods like matzo balls, brisket and gefilte fish. Three decades ago, all most consumers knew about Jewish cooking was that it filled you up to the point of loosening your belt — but it is a cuisine rich in history, tradition and flavor.

Much of typical kosher fare came from the Ashkenazi Jews of Northern Europe, bearing the imprint of generations of Polish, Russian, German, Alsatian, Hungarian, Austrian and Rumanian cooks. Well-known dishes like "Beet Borscht With Sour Cream," "Potato Pancakes With Applesauce," matzo balls and blintzes as well as dishes that only the kosher cognisanti knew well-those with intimidating names like knishes, knedlack, kugel, kreplach and gedampte fleisch — were all heavy and hearty and seemed to be made by a quintessential grandmother who also baked great marble cakes, strudels and cheesecakes. Little thought was given to the fact that kosher cooking actually originated in the eastern Mediterranean. The gustatory joys of Sephardic Jewish cuisine from Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, India and North Africa — with its treasure chest of flavors like cumin and coriander, chocolate and orange zest, tamarind and rose water, saffron and vanilla, olive oil and sesame oil — were virtually unknown in American kosher kitchens.

But all that is beginning to change, and the impression that kosher food has to be a dumpy meal of latkes and gedampte fleisch is fading. In short, kosher has gone upscale and is moving to the forefront of American cuisine. From Anne Rosensweig of New York City's Arcadia Restaurant to Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in San Francisco, top-notch chefs across the country are unveiling the secrets to cooking kosher and realizing that all sorts of dishes can be "kosherized" as long as certain strict rules of preparation and service are observed.

Playing by the rules

As far back as the Garden of Eden, eating has been enmeshed in rules. Adam and Eve were permitted to eat almost anything in their magical garden of earthly delights — except, of course, for that notorious apple. Since improper eating was largely responsible for mankind being cast out of Paradise, it made sense for Jewish law to separate foods that were acceptable for consumption from foods that were unfit to eat. The word "kosher" itself simply means "fit." Naturally, the existence of a class of "fit" foods demands a class of "forbidden" foods, which are known as terefah. Kashrut, the Jewish dietary laws, date back to the time of Genesis and the divine revelation on Mount Sinai. The rules are codified in the Torah in the 11th book of Leviticus.

Since, according to the Jewish faith, God first gave man fruits and seeds, all vegetables and fruits are "fit" foods. "In a certain sense, the dietary laws push the children of Israel back in the direction of the original vegetarianism, of the pristine and innocent garden of Eden," Leon R. Kass, of the University of Chicago, writes in his article "Why the Jewish Dietary Laws?" published in Commentary in June 1994.

The eating of animals, however, posed some problems, and those rules required careful distinctions. One may not eat any animal that eats other animals. One may only eat animals killed by a professional slaughterer in the most merciful way. Birds of prey are forbidden, as are pork, rabbit and horsemeat. Meat must also be inspected for disease, and certain portions of the animal — including the hindquarters (unless the sciatic nerve is removed) and the fat below the abdomen — cannot be consumed. "In a kosher kitchen, meat must be free of blood. This is a mark of respect to another living creature, a symbol of the regret with which we indulge our carnal natures. Flesh must be salted and soaked, to wash away the life fluid before cooking," writes Elizabeth Ehrlich in her book Miriam's Kitchen, A Memoir.

Seafood and shellfish are also subject to strict rules. Kosher diners may not eat swordfish, octopus, squid, monkfish, or any other sea creature lacking fins or removable scales. All shellfish is forbidden, including lobster, crab, mussels and oysters.

Certain foods must also always be separated from other foods. Meat dishes and dairy dishes must never be mixed or eaten during the same meal. They cannot be prepared together, cooked together, stored together, washed together, or eaten with the same utensils or off of the same dishes. Beef stroganoff, for example, could never be kosherized, because it combines milk and meat. This separation stems from an interpretation of the Biblical edict "Thou shall not seethe the kid in its mother's milk" (Deuteronomy 14:21). "It is one of the ironies that in America the Reuben sandwich, corned beef with melted Swiss, is considered the prototypical Jewish-style meal," Ehrlich writes. Some foods — such as eggs, acceptable seafood, vegetables and fruits — may be eaten with both meat and milk and are called pareve.

These strict rules of dietary separation must be followed under rabbinical supervision in a kosher operation. Every establishment must determine what supervision it wishes to follow — a potentially complex issue, since there are 304 types of supervision across America, all with their own standards of what is "fit."

A craving for knishes

"Kosher dining is the biggest untapped area in the field. Every night you see kosher diners gazing into the windows of fine restaurants, yearning for 'a place I can go,' " says Chris Hollis, executive chef at Le Marais in New York City.

Like Hollis, chefs and restaurateurs nationwide are answering the call for upscale kosher cuisine. Kosher cooking today can be far removed from those heavy, old-fashioned traditional dishes while still staying safely within the rules. "The quality of the kosher dining experience is much more like fine dining than ever before," says Jeffrey Becker, director of catering at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. "You can even argue that it's as good or better than [the cuisine of] any fine hotel, with dishes such as rack of lamb, sushi, caviar — all beautifully done. Kosher catering today is no longer the image of common fare. It's not roast beef and stuffed derma. Depending on the caterer, it's as spectacular as anything you can find anywhere."

The Grand Hyatt, like many other hotels and large foodservice companies, outsources its kosher cooking to kosher caterers who are set up to deal with the necessary kosher supervision.

Hollis emphasizes the fine-dining element at Le Marais — the kosher aspect is just part of the process. "It's no longer a question of diners asking, 'Where [are] the matzo balls?' I'll never make them — and it's not because I don't believe in them — but we are a French restaurant that just happens to be kosher," he says. "We used to send food over to other restaurants for parties where there were a few kosher diners. Now there are so many kosher professionals dining out every day that everyone can just come to us. Everybody sits. No one is awkward, and the food is as good as you can get anywhere else minus pork, cheese, butter, cream and crustaceans."

The Le Marais menu reflects the restaurant's concept — a French brasserie. Popular dishes include "Celeri Remoulade" ("Celery Root Salad"), "Magret de Canard Fume, Salade de Choux Rouge" ("Smoked Duck Breast With Red Cabbage"), cassoulet (a white-bean stew simmered with duck confit), l'entrecote (rib-eye steak) and cote de boeuf (prime rib). The restaurant's rabbinical supervisor or mashgiah, Alvin Lew, oversees the kitchen, which reassures the kosher clientele. Hollis estimates that about 60 percent of lunch patrons and about 90 percent of dinner patrons are kosher.

Brian McBride, executive chef and food-and-beverage director at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Washington DC, has been practicing kosher cooking in the hotel's kitchen for eight years, refusing to use outside caterers. "We do very upscale weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and fundraisers, and we don't want anyone to compromise our image. Many kosher caterers use frozen foods. The key is to use the freshest ingredients. Do restaurant-style food," he says.

McBride's kosher kitchen, equipment and dishes are kept under lock and key while awaiting rabbinical supervision, but the classically trained McBride finds the system navigable because he has learned the rules. "Just because a food product has a kosher sign doesn't mean you can use it. It takes time to learn what works and is approved. The mashgiah checks every delivery and all the meat. They supervise in the kitchen to assure none of the cooks violate any laws. They look at every lettuce leaf. Many people say working under kosher supervision is complex, but if you know the rules, work within the framework and are a professional, you can do it."

And the results can be truly glorious, as McBride's "Beet, Potato and Oatmeal Pancakes With Petrossian Smoked Salmon and Chive Creme Fraiche," "Sea Bass With Fennel, Ginger Citrus Sauce," "Chicken Breast 'Saltimbocca' With Sweet Garlic Sauce, Macaire Potatoes and Fresh Seasonal Vegetables" and "Grand Marnier Souffle Glace With Chocolate and Vanilla Anglaise" clearly show.

New York City's Madras Mahal features the kosher vegetarian specialties of India. "Seventy-five percent of the people are vegetarian in India, and 90 to 100 percent are strictly vegetarian in South Gujarat," says Manager Nitin Vjas. Indian vegetarian cooking uses no eggs and no fish, but that doesn't inhibit creations such as "Samosas" (crisp turnovers with spiced potato and green peas), "Beingan Burtha" (Punjabi curry with baked, mashed eggplant, sauteed with onion, tomato and spices) and the restaurant's award-winning "Masala Dosai" (a rice-and-lentil crepe filled with lightly spiced onion and potato and served with coconut chutney and sambar (a hot lentil-based bean sauce or soup). Madras Mahal is so popular that a sister restaurant may open in Los Angeles at the end of the year.

Randy Zablo, owner of Foremost Glatt Kosher Caterers in Westwood, New Jersey, attributes the rise in great kosher dining to heightened consumer awareness. "Ultimately, a better-educated, more-demanding public has created a marketplace of kosher consumers with sophisticated palates," he says.

To satisfy this new breed of diners, Foremost Glatt Kosher Caterers offers a dazzling array of upscale kosher dishes like "Pomegranate-Marinated Veal Chop Topped With Tomato Jam and Onion Frizzles," "Mustard-Seed-Crusted Filet of Salmon With a Red-Bell-Pepper Coulis," "Grilled Breast of Duck and Leg of Duck Confit With a Mango Demi Glaze" and "Almond Cookie Tuille, Filled With a Melange of Fresh Berries, Topped With Cassis Sorbet, Served on a Bed of Zabaglione Sauce, Garnished With Edible Flowers and Mint."

"The trick is working with natural products and not trying to create a ham roast out of a roast beef," says Zablo. "Don't try to create artificial bacon. Work with truffles. Work with sea bass and tuna instead of just salmon. Work with veal, and do the best you can."

Kosher's not just Jewish anymore

According to statistics from Integrated Marketing Communications, Inc., in New York City, 7 million consumers purchased kosher goods in 1997, and that market is projected to grow to 36 million by 2007. Of those 7 million consumers, only 2 million (about 28 percent) were Jews. A little more than 16 percent of those consumers were vegetarians and the lactose-intolerant. More than 19 percent were Muslims, Seventh Day Adventists and other religious groups. Most notable, however, were the more than 35 percent of those consumers who simply preferred kosher foods.

"The kosher market is growing partly because the community of Orthodox Jews is growing and because more and more kosher products are being picked up from the shelves by people such as Muslims, who don't eat pork products, and by ordinary consumers [who] think kosher foods are healthier and better," says Menachem Lubinsky, president of Integrated Marketing Communications.

"Most upscale kosher restaurants are owned by non-Jews," notes Steven Levy, Jewish owner of Haikari Grill, a contemporary kosher Japanese restaurant in New York City that is committed to the theatrical presentation of sushi, sashimi and delicacies such as "Portobello Yaki" (grilled portobello mushrooms with a tamari balsamic vinaigrette, and "Tsutsu Miage" (honey-glazed duck).

"A kosher Japanese restaurant has tremendous advantages, as Japanese food translates perfectly into kosher. I have the same suppliers as nearby nonkosher Japanese restaurants. We omit dairy. Big deal. Who has dairy in a Japanese restaurant?" Levy quips.

Clearly, you don't have to be Jewish to cook kosher, buy kosher, eat kosher or reap the benefits of the current consumer interest in this traditional cuisine.

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