Laws of Blessings (Adv.)
Crash Course in Jewish Blessings
9 min read
9 min read
How bread differs from cake, and how cake differs from pasta.
In the previous class we began learning about the bracha "mezonot." Today we continue along the same subject, exploring the topic of baked goods and their respective brachot.
As we mentioned earlier, since grains that are processed and cooked (or baked) become a satiating dish, they receive the bracha Mezonot. When these same grains1 are ground into flour, made into a dough or batter, and then baked, they attain an even higher status of food: bread or cake.
In terms of brachot, baked goods are divided into three categories. It will be helpful for us to learn a few Hebrew terms:
Category 1 – Bread is defined as a baked dough, consisting primarily of flour and water. It has a loaf-like and dry texture.
Category 2 – Pat Haba'ah B'Kisnin (the first word is often pronounced Pas) is a baked dough that does not quite resemble bread, and is generally eaten as a snack. Examples are cake and crackers.
Category 3 – Ma'aseh Kedeira is made from grains that were cooked and have a moist texture, like spaghetti and oatmeal.
We will now explain each of these categories in detail, and learn the correct bracha to say.
In the last class we learned that the bracha Mezonot was prescribed for foods that are filling and nutritious.2 Due to the significant level of sustenance that they provide, these foods are considered more important than other foods like fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, drinks and sweets (but try telling that to your kids!).
There is one food – bread – that is considered even more important than Mezonot, because it is the staple of every meal and the most essential of all foods. The Sages therefore formulated a special bracha for bread: Hamotzee lechem min ha'aretz – "Who brings forth bread from the ground."3
So whether it's a bagel, pita, rye bread or hot dog bun, the bracha is Hamotzee.
Before we move on to discuss the other two categories of baked good, let's learn a special halacha that pertains to bread. In addition to the unique bracha formulated for bread (Hamotzee), the Sages also required washing one's hands before eating bread. This hand-washing is known as Netilat Yadayim, and is required whenever Hamotzee is recited.4
Here's the easy 10-step guide:
And here is the text for Netilat Yadayim:
Listen to the audio pronunciation of this bracha:
Ashkenazi Pronunciation
Sefardi Pronunciation
Now, let's continue with the other two categories of baked goods.
The second category of grain foods is called Pat Haba'ah B'Kisnin.
These foods differ from "bread" in that:
Now let's get more technical. There are three specific characteristics which define a grain food as Pat Haba B'Kisni, and not as "bread":16
Type A – Sweet Dough: The main ingredients in bread are flour and water. When other ingredients are added (e.g. eggs, sugar, honey, cocoa, fruit juice), the result is a sweeter tasting pastry – what we typically call "cake."
When does "bread" become "cake"? If the volume of ingredients added to the dough is more than the volume of water, and the resulting pastry has a sweet taste like cake, then it is considered cake and not bread.17
Walk into any bakery and you'll see lots of examples of this: cupcakes, coffee cake, honey cake and croissants. (And if you're on a diet, remember that smelling is calorie-free!)
Type B – Filled Dough: Bread is usually not filled with any added ingredients. So a pastry or a pie that is baked with a filling is not considered bread, and their bracha is Mezonot. The filling must be significant enough to change the taste of the pastry.18
This includes things like blintzes, cheese Danish, a hot dog wrapped in filo dough, borekas, apple pie, or any dough filled with chocolate, nuts, cherry filling, potato, meat,19 etc.
What would be the bracha on raisin bread? Let's consider whether it fits the definition we mentioned above – would you use it to make a sandwich, eat it with meat or fish, or eat it as a full meal? Well, that depends. If there are only a few raisins in the bread, then the bracha would be Hamotzee. But if there are lots of raisins packed into the bread, the bracha is Mezonot.20
Type C – Thin and Crispy: Bread is usually soft and has mass. Thin, brittle baked goods, on the other hand, are generally eaten as a snack. Therefore, foods like crackers, pretzels and breadsticks, are not considered bread, and the bracha is Mezonot.21
Here's another case to consider: What if you had a nice piece of apple pie, and decided to eat only the crust? Although this crust is no longer "filled," but since it was originally baked with the filling, the bracha is still Mezonot.22
To summarize the rule: Baked goods that are any one of these three types – tasty dough, filled, or thin and crispy – are not considered bread. Rather, they are Pat Haba'ah B'Kisnin, whose bracha is Mezonot.
A bit of foreshadowing to our next lesson: There are certain situations where the bracha on Pat Haba'ah B'Kisnin will not be Mezonot, but rather Hamotzee. Stay tuned for details.
Until now we've been speaking about grain foods that are baked. If, however, the dough is not baked, but is cooked, the resulting food does not resemble bread at all. Bread has a loaf-like and dry texture; Ma'aseh Kedeira does not. Therefore it is considered neither bread nor Pat Haba'ah B'Kisnin, and bracha is always Mezonot. The term for such foods is Ma'aseh Kedeira, and examples include:
What about something that is fried, like a pancake? In this case, it depends how much oil is used: If the pancakes are deep-fried,26 that is akin to "cooking" and the pancakes are Category 3 – Ma'aseh Kedeira. Whereas if the pancakes are fried in just a bit of oil (i.e. to keep them from burning), then they are considered "baked" and in Category 2 – Pat Haba'ah B'Kisnin.27 (This distinction is important in terms of whether the pancakes will be subject to the occasional exception where the bracha will be Hamotzee, as we'll discuss in the next class.)
A few more applications of these rules:
There is another grain food which although baked and not cooked is included in this category. Foods made with very thin, soft dough, such as blintzes, are the equivalent of Ma'aseh Kedeira and are never considered the equivalent of bread since they could never take the place of bread in a meal.31 Many authorities consider wafers to likewise be an example of this.32
This concludes class #10 on Hilchot Brachot. In the next lesson, we will learn about the "Big Exception" to the rule about saying Mezonot on baked goods.