Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 205 - Laws Governing Blessing for Vegetables

SECTION 205 The Laws Governing the Blessing for Vegetables. (1–6)

1 The blessing Borei pri haadamah should be recited over vegetables1 whether they are eaten raw or cooked.2 [This ruling] also [applies] to species of kitniyos3that are suitable [to be eaten] raw or cooked. [Moreover, although certain] types of vegetables and kitniyos are more palatable when cooked than when raw, if the practice of the majority of people is also to partake of them while raw, the blessing Borei pri haadamah should be recited over them when they are eaten while raw.4

([This ruling applies] even to vegetables that most people do not eat raw, except together with bread or other foods, e.g., onions and the like. When one partakes of them by themselves [the blessing Borei pri haadamah should be recited].) Nevertheless, the blessing Shehakol nih’yah bidvaro should be recited over garlic and onions that have aged and are not fit to eat raw without bread, because they are very pungent. (Like vinegar, [a lesser blessing is recited over them,]5 because their flavor has also deteriorated.)

When [aged onions and garlic] have been cooked, one should recite the blessing Borei pri haadamah over them, even if they were cooked by themselves. [This ruling applies] even though the manner in which they are [generally] eaten when cooked is to place them in cooked foods and not to partake of them by themselves. Nevertheless, when they are in a cooked food, [people] partake of them and, [indeed,] partaking of them is significant, even though they are secondary to the cooked dish as a whole. Thus partaking of them in such a manner endows them with importance and they warrant the recitation of the blessing Borei pri haadamah, [when they are eaten] without bread.6

These vegetables are not comparable to anise, cumin, and the like, which are not considered as significant entities when placed in cooked food. [They are added only to season the food and] not to be eaten as food at all. Therefore [even] if one cooked them by themselves or partook of them while raw, one should merely recite the blessing Shehakol nih’yah bidvaro on them, as stated in sec. 204[:4].

2 Conversely, onions and garlic that have not aged — and similarly, leek and the like — are suitable to be eaten raw and deteriorate when they are cooked by themselves, to the extent that they do not taste as good as when they are raw. [Hence, when they are cooked,] the blessing Shehakol nih’yah bidvaro is recited over them, because they have deteriorated. Even if they have been cooked with meat or another food and thus their flavor improved, since the improvement came [from another factor,] not from themselves, it does not warrant the recitation of the blessing Borei pri haadamah for them.

[This instance is] not comparable to a nut that was cooked in water, which caused its flavor to deteriorate, and then it was fried in honey, which improved [its flavor]. The blessing Borei pri haetz is recited over it even though the improvement and the enhancement came only because of the honey, as stated in sec. 202[:18. The rationale:] The nut is the primary element and the honey is secondary to it, [serving merely to] improve and enhance it. In contrast, with regard to garlic and the like that are improved by the cooked food, the cooked food is of primary importance and [the onions and/or garlic] take on its flavor as a matter of course.

3 There are species of vegetables, e.g., cabbage, squash, spinach, and the like, that are not commonly eaten raw (even with bread), but rather cooked or pickled in brine or other liquids, in which instance they are considered as cooked. The blessing Shehakol nih’yah bidvaro should be recited over them when they are eaten raw. When they are cooked or pickled, one should recite the blessing Borei pri haadamah.

Similarly, the ordinary manner of eating turnips and carrots is to partake of them when they are cooked. Therefore, the blessing Borei pri ha­adamah should be recited over them when they are cooked or pickled in vinegar or mustard. Even if their taste would deteriorate were they to be cooked without meat and it is improved [only] because of the meat, nevertheless, [the blessing Borei pri haadamah should be recited over them even when cooked without meat. The rationale:] Since the way they are ordinarily prepared is to cook them with meat so that [the meat] would flavor them, the fact that they are [generally] eaten in this manner makes them important enough so that the blessing Borei pri haadamah is recited over them.

[These concepts] do not [apply] with regard to garlic and the like7 that are not included in a cooked dish so that the other food will flavor them, but rather so that they flavor it. Therefore, the fact that they are eaten in this manner does not endow them with any more importance than they possess in and of themselves. [Hence, the blessing Shehakol nih’yah bidvaro is recited over them.]

When [turnips, carrots, and the like] are eaten raw, the blessing Shehakol nih’yah bidvaro should be recited over them, because they are not planted with the intent of eating them in this manner.8

4 Similarly, when one eats dried kitniyos raw, he should recite the blessing Shehakol nih’yah bidvaro, because this is not the ordinary manner in which they are eaten. If, however, they are still fresh, he should recite the blessing Borei pri haadamah even on the pods that are fit to be eaten.

To what does the above apply? To garden beans, for they are sown with the intent of being eaten raw. Kitniyos that are sown in fields, by contrast, are usually left [to dry] and to be eaten cooked. Therefore if one eats them — whether the kitniyos themselves or the pods — raw, even when they are fresh, one should recite merely the blessing Shehakol nih’yah bidvaro.

5 When vegetables were squeezed [for their juices], the blessing Shehakol nih’yah bidvaro should be recited on the juice, as it is for the juice of other produce. One should, however, recite the blessing Borei pri haadamah on the water in which they are cooked,9 as explained in sec. 202[:11].

6 When a vegetable is cut up, even if it is cut up into very small pieces,10 its blessing does not change as a result, as explained in sec. 202[:17].