Keeping kosher

Sinks, ovens, stoves and other appliances are covered with foil and brown tape in one kitchen at the Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa.

The kitchen, with its more than 2,000 square feet, is one of the hotel’s newest functional kitchens, but the dedicated nondairy kosher facility must be sealed by a rabbi after every use.

“Everybody can come and feel comfortable that there was no non-kosher items being handled here,” said Rabbi Binyomin Fajnland, who is working with the Hilton.

There is much more to preparing and serving a kosher meal than simply separating meat and milk. The Hilton has spent the last eight months learning and preparing the first dedicated kosher kitchen in Southern California.

“We want to become the home for Jewish community and help celebrate life’s great moments,” said Keith Lambert, director of catering for the Hilton.

About 20 years ago, the now all-kosher kitchen served a nightclub in the hotel, and since its closing has sat largely unused. After hosting many Jewish events at which a kosher caterer had to be brought in, the hotel’s general manager Shaun Robinson came up with the idea to dedicate the vacant kitchen.

“Normally what happens is you go to the hotel and we have to kosherize every single time we have to make a party, which is a lot of the time, and … there’s only so much the equipment can take so it’s a risk,” said Fajnland, who explained that the process of making a kitchen kosher requires cooking equipment to be torched by a flame. “Here basically the kosher kitchen is ready every time … everything is in place already and the possibilities are tremendous.”

Fajnland was commissioned by the hotel to oversee the kitchen’s dedication as well as each event the hotel hosts.

“There is no cooking or prep work done without sabbatical supervision,” Lambert said. “It’s all sealed by a rabbi.”

The kosher rules about animals come mainly from the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, with the process of making things kosher found in the book of Numbers, Fajnland said.

There are no dairy products on the menu; substitutes like margarine and nondairy creamer are used instead. They must also purchase meat from kosher vendors. Besides the omission of animals like pigs and rabbits — generally accepted kosher animals have cloven hoofs and chew their cud — there are strict guidelines about how the animal must be raised, killed and prepared.

“Basically you want the animal to go through as little pain as possible,” said Brad Logsdon, the Hilton’s director of sales and marketing.

The slaughter must be performed by a certain type of butcher, and the blood must be completely drained from the animal.

Produce must be brought in fresh. Both the meat and produce vendors were pre-approved by Fajnland, who has specialized in the process for about 28 years. Each delivery must also be inspected by the rabbi before its preparation.

“We can only have the freshest, best produce, prepared that day,” Robinson said.

The cooking and serving utensils must remain sealed until the day the chefs begin cooking and serving and can only be unsealed by the rabbi.

Fajnland will preside over each event, making sure any additional ingredients brought in are kosher and that everything is prepared according to Jewish law. It’s generally a two-day process, Lambert said.

The hotel has invested more than $50,000 into the kitchen, purchasing all new appliances, dishes and cooking utensils.

“It’s a very large investment for the hotel,” Logsdon said. “And we’re still spending.”

The grand opening of the kitchen took place Tuesday night with a reception for Jewish leaders and community members from around Orange County. The word about the kitchen spread before it’s official opening, and the hotel has booked seven events already. The hotel expects to prepare feasts for 50 to 60 events per year.

“Really the reception we’ve gotten has made me feel warm,” said Lambert. “There are a lot of cultural things we are learning as we go along.”