VATICAN GOES KOSHER FOR A DAY

FROM FAILED MESSIAH

The Day The Vatican Went Kosher
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Last week, an Orthodox rabbi reportedly entered a kitchen at the Vatican and koshered it. When the scrubbing and purging was finished, that rabbi, Jaakov Spizzichino, supervised the preparation of a four-course meal catered by Ba’Ghetto, a top kosher restaurant in Rome. That meal was served by Pope Francis to a group of visiting Argentinean rabbis.

According to the Associated Press, the menu was heavily fish-based.

Course 1

• Antipasti of deep-fried artichokes

• Baked sardines with endive and grilled zucchini

Course 2

• A choice of: gnocchi with rocket, tomato, pine nuts, and hand-made trofie, or little twists of pasta with sea bass and tomatoes

Course 3

• A choice of: baked turbot wrapped with vegetables; or salt cod with tomatoes, pine nuts, grapes and potatoes; or beef filet with a Barolo wine reduction (most rabbis reportedly chose the beef; the Pope had fish)

• Salad and roasted potatoes

Course 4

• A dessert of two torts of chestnut and sour cherry, along with pistachio mousse (a pareve version of the Pope’s favorite dairy-based dessert)

This isn’t the first time the Vatican has hosted kosher meals, and the Pope famously ordered kosher takeout for his close friend, Rabbi Abraham Skorka, when Skorka visited him at the Vatican last year.