Today, a consumer shopping for kosher for Passover products enjoys choosing from a myriad of prepared, packaged, and frozen foods. Supermarket shelves overflowing with wares offer a selection of 52,000 kosher for Passover foods, according to the newsletter .
Jewish Life, April 1947
In 1947, seventy years ago, the nascent kosher food market proudly proffered two frozen foods certified kosher for Passover by the Orthodox Union. The two products were 鈥淕efulte Fish鈥 and 鈥淧otato Pancakes,鈥 produced by Sanborn Foods of Cedarhurst, NY, an enterprise founded by Samuel Borenstein in 1945. The RCA Bulletin, the official organ of the Rabbinical Council of America, announced the new items in April 1947, and referred to an article showcasing them in the 鈥淣ews of Food鈥 column (March 19, 1947). Under the title 鈥淔rozen Kosher Foods Appear on Market鈥 the article declared that the kosher market is 鈥渞apidly expanding to include almost everything which is edible鈥 and extolled the 鈥渇irst kosher products to enter the frozen food field,鈥 praising the taste of the gefulte fish, a 鈥淛ewish delicacy 鈥 pleasantly flavored with celery, onions, carrots and other seasonings,鈥 and noting that the potato pancakes 鈥渁re all ready to be heated, either in the oven or on top of the stove.鈥 The frozen fare was marketed under the name 鈥淪anborn鈥檚 Kosher-Pakt.鈥 Sanborn鈥檚 is apparently the progenitor of Borenstein Caterers, currently a subsidiary of El Al, which feeds hundreds of passengers while it flies them to Israel to celebrate Passover every year.
RCA Bulletin, collage created from issues of February 1947 and April 1947.
Posted by Shulamith Z. Berger
Jewish Life, April 1947
RCA Bulletin, collage created from issues of February 1947 and April 1947.
Jewish Life, April 1947
RCA Bulletin, collage created from issues of February 1947 and April 1947.
