Cooked Cockroach Closes Knesset Cafeteria

Kosher conundrum caused when creature cooked and served to Knesset member.

Cockroach closes down Knesset cafeteria
Just as Shas MKs dine in parliament's eatery, pest pops up and snatches away establishment's kosher certificate. But don't worry too much about elected representatives going hungry
Amnon Meranda • Ynet

The Knesset's meat cafeteria was closed Tuesday until further notice after a cockroach found its way onto one of the diner's plates.

The afflicted diner recounted, "All of a sudden, I saw a cockroach on my plate. This is a very disheartening feeling. This has never happened to me anywhere in the world."

The notorious meal took place Monday. "I almost never eat in the Knesset cafeteria," said the appalled diner. "One of the Shas ministers invited me for lunch, so I came. We all sat there together, Knesset Member Yitzhak Vaknin (Shas), Deputy Finance Minister Yitzhak Cohen (Shas), and some others."

MK Vaknin also recounted the incident: "I sat with this person who had a cockroach on his plate. He pointed it out to us. I saw the cockroach – it was no longer alive, it was cooked. This is very bad. There is a halachic issue here. This is an issue of insects, vermin, and unclean creatures. I called the kosher supervisors to come and see."

According to one of the cafeteria's owners, "Following a debate that arose after the cockroach was found on one of the diner's plates, the kosher overseer decided to revoke the kosher certificate. Therefore, at this stage, the buffets are closed."  

Only the meat lunchrooms, however, have been closed, and the dairy cafeteria as of now remains open.

This is not the first time a Knesset cafeteria has been closed following sanitary violations. Two years ago, the buffet was closed when external suppliers delivered food ingredients suspected of being contaminated with the listeria bacteria.

Comments

[MisterApikoros]

Let 'em eat cake!

[C-Girl]

Apparently someone wasn't checking the broccoli closely enough. ;-)

[yidandahalf]

You can bet it was not a puny German Cockroach either. If I was still religious, I would call this an ACT OF G-d.

[Yochanan Lavie]

I loved the alliteration of this post's title.

I'd say this situation is Kafkaesque.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Maybe it was the new Rav HaRoachi, or another Roach Yeshiva. Maybe it was in honor of Roach Chodesh.

[phillip]

I guess non of these clowns ever served
in the military. A roach would considered
extra protein along with rations.

[Nigritude Ultramarine]

I was once served a slice of vegetable pizza in a kosher establishment that had a cockroach cooked amongst the toppings. I came about a 1/4 inch from biting into it.

[WoolSilkCotton]

I once had a piece of kugel in a 'restaurant' on 13th Ave in Boro Park, and there was a cigarette butt baked in.
I guess I should have specified I wanted the kugel without a cigarette butt.

[maven]

YL: I'm surprised we haven't heard any comments yet from FM commentator "Chicago Samsa" :)

[Dr. Dave]

Only the meat lunchrooms, however, have been closed, and the dairy cafeteria as of now remains open.

So roaches are milchig (chalavi,dairy)?

Must be a new chumra that I missed!

[itchiemayer]

I have not heard from Windy City Shimshon in quite awhile. or ah-pee-chorus for that matter. Or Archibald. I can think of a few others, as well.

[R]

They took away the kosher certification?
How did the roach get there under their strict supervision in the first place?

[maven]

itchie, there was a joke there in the name. Yochanan can explain.

[steve]

According to the OU, the food is still kosher.

[Avraham Nechemiah Ben David]

Well, if it were a grasshopper it would have been kosher :-) He, we needed to something to snack on coming out of Egypt.

[yidandahalf]

Roach Yeshiva! Why didn't we come up with this before??? YL, you never disappoint.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Thanks, Yid.

WSC: Good thing Bloomberg didn't find about your tobacco kugel. He would have taxed it up the wazoo.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Here's something from Guns & Roaches:

I got a meal that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything was as fresh as the cockroach kugel
Now and then when I smell my plate
It takes me away to that Proustian place
And if I stared too long
I'd probably break down and struggle

Oh, roach kugel o' mine
Oh, sweet meal of mine

It's got a crunch of the tastiest lunch
As if they thought of chrain
I hate to bite into a piece
And see a wiggle of pain
The taste reminds me of a mushy place
From which a child would hide
And I pray for the Rolaids and the Draino
To help me digest it by

Oh, roach kugel o' mine
Oh, sweet meal of mine