09 Apr HALACHICALLY SPEAKING: THE POTATO IN HALACHA

In Yiddish a potato is
called a kartufel. The
reason why it is called a
kartufel is because the
potato which was meant
to be a tufel food has been
made into an ikur. The
potato is a vegetable that
was not around in the
days of the Gemorah or
Rishonim. Although, the
potato first reached the shores of North America
in the 18th century, the current value of the world
potato market is 100 billion dollars.
Can we imagine a world without potato kugel,
latkes or french fries? Horav Avigdor Miller zt”l
said we have a great zechus that the potato is part
of our diet. The Gemorah mentions many steps
one has to follow in order to put bread on his table,
while potatoes can be prepared straight from the
soil. This is something to think about the next time
we recite a beracha on a potato. There are many
halachos that apply to this wonderful vegetable
which is eaten daily by millions of people.
Making Designs out of a Potato
Sometimes one wishes to take a potato, cut it into
different shapes and put some coloring etc on it
to decorate it. This is done as art project etc. to
make the potato look good. However, one should
not do this to a potato since it is a disgrace for the
potato, and one is not allowed to treat foods in a
disrespectful manner.
Beracha Rishona
There are many poskim who maintain that the
correct beracha rishona on a potato is shehakol.
Their reason is because the potato does not really
grow from the ground, rather it grows from air
around the ground. However, the concensus
of most poskim is that the beracha on a potato
is indeed hadama. Unless one has the custom
to recite shehakol on a potato he should recite
hadama like the majority custom of klal yisroel.
Raw Potatoes
A food which is not edible does not require
a beracha rishona should one wish to eat it.
Accordingly, one would not recite a beracha
rishona before eating a raw potato since it is not
edible. For this reason some poskim say that a
raw potato is muktzah on Shabbos and may not
be moved. However, since on Yom Tov cooking is
permitted, one may move (and use) a raw potato.
Borekas
The custom is to recite mezonos on borekas since
they have a thick crust made from flour.
Mashed/Instant Potatoes
A vegetable which is mashed to the point that
one cannot recognize the type of vegetable it
was originally requires a shehakol. If one recited
a hadama on a vegetable that is mashed and
not recognizable the beracha is valid b’dieved.
Accordingly, if potatoes were mashed to the point
that they are not recognizable (i.e. in an electric
blender) the beracha is shehakol. However, in
many cases one can still tell that the mashed food
is potato and therefore, the minhag haolom is that
the beracha would still be a hadama. Potatoes that
were mashed by hand definitely require a hadama
since one can easily see that the food is potato.
In regard to instant potatoes, since after one adds
a little water to the powder one can tell that the
food is potato, the beracha remains hadama (see
footnote).
Potato Kugel/Latkes
If the potato ingredients are processed in a way

that one no longer recognizes the mixture as
potato, the beracha on the potato kuglel or latkes
would be shehakol. However, in many cases one
can still recognize that the mixture is potato and
the beracha would still be hadama. Some say that
even if the potatoes where ground to the point
that they are not recognizable the beracha is still
hadama because the derech of potatoes is for them
to be mashed in this manner. Nevertheless, the
custom of many people is to recite a shehakol on
potato kugel in any case.
Potato Starch
If the flour is edible and one has enjoyment from
eating it, then one would recite the beracha of
shehakol on it. Some say one can eat food made
from potato starch and be yotzei the inyun of pas
shacharis with it. The beracha recited on cake
made from potato starch is shehakol.
Potato Chips
Potato chips are made by thinly slicing potatoes
and deep frying them. Therefore, the beracha on
potato chips is hadama. The same halacha applies
to potato sticks.
Pringles®
Pringles® are not made the same way a regular
potato chip is made. Pringles® potato chips were
introduced in 1969 by Procter and Gamble.
Pringles® are made from potatoes that have
been cooked, mashed, dehydrated, and then
reconstituted into dough. They are then cut into a
uniform shape and then quick fried. The poskim
discuss which beracha to make on them. Some say
Pringles® are considered to have been made form
potato flour and therefore the beracha would be a
shehakol. Others say since it is noticeable that one
is eating potato when eating Pringles® the beracha
is still hadama, and this is the minhag ha’olom.
Potato Knish
A knish which has a layer of dough which
completely surrounds the potato (i.e. Mom’s
knish) requires a mezonos, and no hadama is
necessary on the potato filling. However, a knish
which is not surrounded by a crust on all sides
would require a mezonos on the crust and a
hadama on the potatoes.
French Fries
When eating french fries with ketchup, the
ketchup is normally considered a tufel to the
french fries. Therefore, only hadama is recited on
the french fries and no shehakol is recited on the
ketchup.
Potato Soup
The beracha on potato soup is hadama, which also
exempts the liquid broth.
Meat and Potato Stew
The meat and potatoes in a stew are usually not
mixed to the point that they are not recognizable
and could be considered a single mixture in
regard to the beracha to recite on it. Rather, the
meat and potatoes are usually recognizable and
not considered a mixture, and therefore, both the
meat and the potatoes require their own berochos.
Hatmana
One is permitted to wrap a piece of potato kugel
in aluminum foil and put it in the cholent on Erev
Shabbos. There is no problem of hatmana because
since one’s intention is for the kugel to absorb
the taste of the cholent, it is considered a way of
cooking and not hatmana. However, some say one
should poke holes in the silver foil before placing
it in the cholent.
Mashed Potatoes (Tochain)
A fruit or vegetable that becomes very soft when it
is cooked may be mashed on Shabbos. The reason

is because after cooking, the pieces of vegetable are
considered to have already been separated. Based
on this, one is permitted to mash a cooked potato
on Shabbos. Nevertheless, one may only use a fork
and not a grater because of uvda d’chol. Others are
stringent with this.
Placing Sauce on a Potato (Losh)
One is permitted to place cooked sauce on a
cooked potato on Shabbos and there is no concern
of losh. The reason is that one’s intention is to
make the food more enjoyable and not to mix the
sauce with the potato.
Daver Gush
A hot potato is considered like a kli rishon even
when it is off the fire because it is a dense solid
(daver gush). Therefore, one may not place
anything on a hot potato that will then cook as if
placed on a kli rishon. For example, one may not
place spices onto a hot potato. Cooked salt may be
placed onto a hot potato which has been moved
to a kli sheini. Many people are not careful with
this and one should begin to treat a potato as a kli
rishon on Shabbos. One may place ketchup on a
hot potato on Shabbos.
Potatoes on Pesach
There are some poskim who include potatoes
in the minhag to refrain from eating kitniyos
on Pesach, since they too are ground into flour
which can be confused with grain flour. However,
this opinion is not accepted today. Horav Moshe
Feinstein zt”l says the reason is because we only
define something as kitniyos if there is a custom
to regard it as kitniyos. Another reason is that the
great need for potatoes on Pesach kept them away
from being prohibited. Furthermore, the minhag
to refrain from eating kitniyos dates back to the
times of the Maharil when potatoes were not yet
available.
Red Potatoes
Some red potatoes contain artificial coloring for
which the Pesach status is unknown. Therefore,
one should only purchase red potatoes that do not
state on the bag or box that coloring is added.
Karpas
One of the reasons to eat karpas is because it is
a remez for the 600,000 people who worked in
Mitzrayim (samach perach, which is karpas in
Hebrew starting with the last letter). The poskim
say that one should take a vegetable that is a
hadama for karpas and have in mind that this
beracha should exempt the moror which will be
eaten later.
Many people have the custom to use a potato for
karpas. Others say since there are poskim who
maintain that the beracha on a potato is shehakol,
one should not take a potato for karpas and instead
should use a different vegetable whose beracha is
definitely hadama. One is not required to follow
his father’s custom regarding which vegetable to
use for karpas.
Potato Latkes (Chanukah)
The minhag of virtually all of the klal yisroel
is to eat latkes on Chanukah. The seforim say
the reason for this is because we want to have a
remembrance of the miracle which happened
with oil. Therefore, we try to eat food cooked in a
lot of oil, namely potatoes.
Potatoes as Ner Chanukah
The Avnei Nezer holds that one is not allowed
to make a hole in a potato and use it to hold oil
for the Chanukah neiros. This is because since
the potato does not last for a long time it is not
considered a daver chasuv, and therefore, can not
be used to hold the oil.

Bishul Akum
A food which is eaten raw or is not fit for a kings’
table never has a problem of bishul akum. There
is a discussion in the poskim whether a potato
is fit to be served on a kings’ table. Some poskim
say a potato is fit to be served on a kings’ table
while others hold it is not. If a food is served at
a smorgasbord it is considered fit to be served
on a king’s table. The minhag is that a potato is
not fit to be served on a kings’ table. However, if
a potato is made in a way that it is fit for a kings’
table, then that particular potato could potentially
be a problem of bishul akum. Some poskim hold
even though the potato is not fit for a kings’ table
in one way of preparing it, since it could be fit for
a kings’ table if prepared differently, the whole
min of potatoes is considered fit to be served on
a kings’ table, and all potatoes would need bishul
yisroel. However, most poskim disagree with this
statement and maintain that one judges each way
of preparing the potato separately. Accordingly,
if a specific potato is prepared in a way that it is
fit for a kings’ table then only that type of potato
is a problem of bishul akum. This is the opinion
followed by most kashrus agencies. (A sweet
potato is generally fit to be served on a king’s
table when cooked etc. Therefore, it would require
bishul yisroel).
The previous machlokes has ramifications in
regard to potato chips. Some say since a fried
potato is fit to be served at a kings’ table one
may not eat potato chips unless they have bishul
yisroel even though potato chips themselves are
not served on kings table. Others say since fried
potatoes are not fit to be served at a kings’ table,
potato chips would not require bishul yisroel. This
is the opinion of the majority of the poskim.
Potatoes at a Wedding
Fried potatoes that appear at weddings as side
dishes are in fact fully edible boiled potatoes that
are merely placed in oil to deep fry for a small
amount of time in order to brown them. Therefore,
the potatoes are not actually considered fried, but
rather cooked and then browned in some oil.
French Fries- Bishul Akum
The fact that French fries appear at the children’s
table at weddings does not make fried potatoes fit
to be served on a kings’ table. Accordingly, frozen
french fries do not require bishul yisroel.
Pringles® –Bishul Akum
The consensus of the poskim at the OU is that
Pringles® are not considered a food that is fit to be
served on a kings table, and do not require bishul
yisroel in order to permit a hechsher to be placed
on them.
Mashed/Instant Potatoes- Bishul Akum
One is not required to have bishul yisroel in order
to permit a hechsher to be given on either mashed
or instant potatoes. The reason for this is because
there is an opinion in the poskim who maintains
that if a goy makes a food which is not fit to eat
until a yisroel cooks it, such a food does not need
bishul yisroel to permit one to give a hechsher on
it. The same halacha would apply to potato flakes.
Tevilas Keilim
A peeler that is exclusively used to peel potatoes
should be toveled without a beracha.
Checking For Bugs
There is no need to check the outside of a potato
for bugs. Some poskim say that one should check
the inside of the potato for bugs.