Thought for the Day: Physical Change to the Point of Unrecognizability Makes a Food Lose It's Unique Bracha
Spoiler alert: The correct bracha on Pringles® is (and always has been) בורא פרי האדמה/Who creates the fruit of the land; not the more generic שהכל נהיה בדברו/by Whose word everything comes into being. Yes, I know there are those who argue. Some out of ignorance/misunderstanding; whose opinions I therefore disregard with extreme prejudice. (Ignorance has no place in halacha.) Others out of a difference in how to weigh the various factors; with whose opinion I respectfully disagree.
We've already discussed how a food can lose it's unique bracha through cooking and/or repurposing it from a food to a beverage. This is another way: by grinding or pulverizing it into an unrecognizable mass. The Shulchan Aruch uses the example of making a paste out of dates (202:7). The Shulchan Aruch says they do not lose their identity; בורא פרי העץ before eating and על העץ afterward. The Rema agrees that should be the case, but is nervous for those who say the food looses its unique identity by being ground into a paste, The Rema concludes that the appropriate bracha is שהכל נהיה בדברו before and (therefore) בורא נפשות afterwards; but if one says בורא פרי העץ before eating and על העץ afterward, he has -- after the fact -- fulfilled his obligation.
What is the source of the disagreement? Essentially, point on which the argument turns is whether the vegetable matter paste is recognizable as being said vegetable. That is, cut a chunk out an apple; what's the bracha? Obviously, it's still בורא פרי העץ. Bake that apple and what's the bracha? Obviously, it's still בורא פרי העץ. Take a heaping spoonful; what's the bracha? Obviously, it's still בורא פרי העץ.
That, as they say, is when the trouble begins. Muhsch (pretty creative spelling, no?) that baked apple into a sauce; what's the bracha? Not so clear and obvious anymore, but it is still בורא פרי העץ. That's because it is homemade apple sauce that has that nice brown color that your baked apple has. If you mix chemicals into the processing to keep it white/yellow -- as they do when making commercial apple sauce -- then the bracha downgrades to שהכל נהיה בדברו. (Note: The chemicals can be as simple as lemon juice and sugar. Also note: I know there is churn in the poskim on this; I am telling you the p'sak of R' Fuerst, shlita.) The point is not that I know the source of the muhsch, but that I can tell by looking at it. That is, the muhsch looks like the fruit from which it was muhsched. That's why creamy peanut butter is also שהכל נהיה בדברו; that creamy goo just doesn't look like peanuts.
Potatoes are quite interesting. We only eat cooked potatoes (a raw potato would get only a שהכל), and we very often eat them either sliced very thin and deep fried (aka, potato chips) or mashed; both have a characteristic and familiar look. What are Pringles®? Dried potato flakes that have been reconstituted, mixed with a bit of oil/rice flour/spices/chemicals, and then fried into that familiar shape and color we all recognize as potato chips. Since they started as potatoes and the final product looks like potato chips, we don't care about the intermediate stage; the bracha is בורא פרי האדמה.
To summarize (and yes, I know there are other opinions, but this is according the p'sak of R' Fuerst, shilta):
We've already discussed how a food can lose it's unique bracha through cooking and/or repurposing it from a food to a beverage. This is another way: by grinding or pulverizing it into an unrecognizable mass. The Shulchan Aruch uses the example of making a paste out of dates (202:7). The Shulchan Aruch says they do not lose their identity; בורא פרי העץ before eating and על העץ afterward. The Rema agrees that should be the case, but is nervous for those who say the food looses its unique identity by being ground into a paste, The Rema concludes that the appropriate bracha is שהכל נהיה בדברו before and (therefore) בורא נפשות afterwards; but if one says בורא פרי העץ before eating and על העץ afterward, he has -- after the fact -- fulfilled his obligation.
What is the source of the disagreement? Essentially, point on which the argument turns is whether the vegetable matter paste is recognizable as being said vegetable. That is, cut a chunk out an apple; what's the bracha? Obviously, it's still בורא פרי העץ. Bake that apple and what's the bracha? Obviously, it's still בורא פרי העץ. Take a heaping spoonful; what's the bracha? Obviously, it's still בורא פרי העץ.
That, as they say, is when the trouble begins. Muhsch (pretty creative spelling, no?) that baked apple into a sauce; what's the bracha? Not so clear and obvious anymore, but it is still בורא פרי העץ. That's because it is homemade apple sauce that has that nice brown color that your baked apple has. If you mix chemicals into the processing to keep it white/yellow -- as they do when making commercial apple sauce -- then the bracha downgrades to שהכל נהיה בדברו. (Note: The chemicals can be as simple as lemon juice and sugar. Also note: I know there is churn in the poskim on this; I am telling you the p'sak of R' Fuerst, shlita.) The point is not that I know the source of the muhsch, but that I can tell by looking at it. That is, the muhsch looks like the fruit from which it was muhsched. That's why creamy peanut butter is also שהכל נהיה בדברו; that creamy goo just doesn't look like peanuts.
Potatoes are quite interesting. We only eat cooked potatoes (a raw potato would get only a שהכל), and we very often eat them either sliced very thin and deep fried (aka, potato chips) or mashed; both have a characteristic and familiar look. What are Pringles®? Dried potato flakes that have been reconstituted, mixed with a bit of oil/rice flour/spices/chemicals, and then fried into that familiar shape and color we all recognize as potato chips. Since they started as potatoes and the final product looks like potato chips, we don't care about the intermediate stage; the bracha is בורא פרי האדמה.
To summarize (and yes, I know there are other opinions, but this is according the p'sak of R' Fuerst, shilta):
- Home made apple sauce is בורא פרי העץ. (Thank you, אור היום.)
- Store bought, processed, canned or bottled apple sauce is שהכל נהיה בדברו.
- Creamy peanut butter is שהכל נהיה בדברו.
- Crunchy peanut butter -- if you eat a bit of peanut first -- is בורא פרי האדמה.
- Home made and perhaps some natural coarse ground peanut butter -- probably בורא פרי האדמה.
- Pringles® are בורא פרי האדמה.
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