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Q&A From the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline

Fry Cook

Dayan Yosef Greenwald

December 10, 2021

 

Q May lightly fried croutons be added to soup on Shabbos?

A There is a principle in hilchos Shabbos that “ein bishul achar bishul (there is no cooking after cooking)” and “ein afiyah achar afiyah (there is no baking after baking).” This means that repeating the same heating process for a solid food is not considered cooking, as the repetition will not change the food significantly. Therefore, one may recook a cooked piece of chicken on Shabbos (provided one is careful to avoid violating the deRabanan prohibition of chazarah, returning to the fire).

On the other hand, the Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 318:5) presents two approaches as to whether afiyah achar bishul and bishul achar afiyah are permitted, and he recommends being strict. The Pri Megadim and other Acharonim discuss whether tzliyah (roasting over fire or coals) is halachically equivalent to afiyah (baking in an oven).

A related question arises concerning the bracha on foods cooked in oil. There is a dispute (O.C. 168) about small pieces of dough fried with only a small amount of oil (a sort of crouton) to give them texture and flavor. Some hold that this is not considered bishul, and the bracha would be hamotzi, while many others hold that even food lightly fried in oil is considered cooked and thus requires mezonos. (Deep-fried foods are always considered cooked.) One might argue that hilchos Shabbos cannot be compared to hilchos brachos, but R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach and Rav Elyashiv do compare them, maintaining that the same dispute applies to the question of whether one may put such lightly-fried croutons into soup due to yesh bishul achar afiyah.

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