Mosaic laws distinguish clean and impure animals and therefore also prescribe what animals Jews are allowed or forbidden to consume. Clean (Kosher) is the cattle, sheep, goat, deer, etc., i.e everything that ruminates and has cloven hooves. Consumption of the meat of rabbits, horses or donkeys is strictly prohibited. The most important ban is the one on pork, which may not even be touched. The consumption of various different insects, bugs or reptiles is also strictly prohibited. Consumption of the meat of otherwise clean animals is prohibited if the flesh is taken from a dead animal. Also strictly prohibited is the consumption of the blood of animals. Fish must have fins and scales to be kosher and be prepared without the fatty parts. Even ritually clean animals can only be consumed if slaughtered and deemed Kosher by a licensed professional (the Shochet). The Shochet must aspire to cause the least possible pain to the animal when slaughtering. Not a single drop of blood may remain in the meat. In order to achieve this, the meat is first soaked in water for half an hour and then salted. Cooking may only begin when the salt has absorbed all the blood and the meat was washed again.
