In kashrut, the dietary laws of Judaism, pareve (from for "neutral", in Hebrew , and also parve and other variant English spellings) is a classification of edible substances that contain neither dairy nor meat ingredients. Food in this category includes all items that grow from the ground (fruits, vegetables, grains, etc.), fish (only Kosher fish), eggs, and non-biological edible items (such as water and salt).
Kashrut forbids consuming mixtures of milk and meat, consuming milk and meat at the same meal, consuming dairy foods within a period of time after consuming meat (the period varies by custom), and using the same dishes for both dairy and meat. Pareve foods, being neutral, can be consumed with either dairy or meat.
Laws
Eggs that have been laid are considered pareve because they are separate from the animal. But eggs found inside a bird after its slaughter are considered to be part of the animal and therefore have the status of meat. Commercially marketed eggs generally are not taken from slaughtered animals and therefore are pareve.
Kashrut requires that common bread must be made pareve, because bread is a staple food, and there is a strong chance one may forget that the bread contains dairy or meat ingredients. Bread need not be made pareve if it is made in an unusual shape or consumed on the same day it is made. Even vegetarians are required to refrain from baking non-pareve bread because kashrut applies equally to all Jews.
Food that contains only pareve ingredients but that comes in contact with dairy or meat dishes in the home or that is manufactured on equipment also used to manufacture dairy or meat equipment maintains the status of pareve, and may be consumed after eating dairy or meat. However, if such contact is made, it may only be consumed on dairy or meat dishes respectively. Some commercial products that are pareve but have been manufactured on dairy equipment bear the letters DE after the hechscher to let the consumer know the product cannot be consumed together with meat. Still, such an item can be consumed after a meat meal.
Pharmaceuticals taken for medical purposes that contain animal ingredients, while not technically pareve, do not require a waiting period following their consumption, as they are generally swallowed without being chewed and have little contact with the mouth. The laws of kashrut do not apply to pharmaceuticals taken for medical reasons. Vitamins, on the other hand, have the status of nourishment, and therefore, the laws of kashrut must be followed.
While kosher households generally have two sets of dishes, one for dairy and another for meat, some kosher households also include a third set of pareve dishes, or at least cooking utensils, in order to enable pareve foods to be prepared and then later served with either dairy or meat meals.
While fish is pareve, the Talmud warns not to consume fish directly mixed with meat, and the custom is not to eat both on the same plate if they both are eaten at the same meal. It is Chabad custom to refrain from eating fish with milk, but combining fish with dairy byproducts (cheese, butter, etc.) is acceptable. A much less common practice is to refrain from eating fish combined with any dairy product.
Pareve in commercial production
Due to the restrictions in Jewish law forbidding combining milk and meat, many food items marketed to kosher consumers are made pareve, thereby modifying traditional recipes and allowing the item to be consumed either with dairy or meat. Common ingredients used as substitutes for either dairy or meat ingredients include soy and tofu, palm and coconut oils, and various vegetables. Meat analogues are used to replace real meat in recipes, and soy cheese to replace real cheese. Some meat analogues include dairy.
The laws of marit ayin forbid eating a pareve food that appears dairy together with meat or vice versa. However, with the wide commercial availability of such pareve imitations of both dairy and meat foods, today this is permitted.
Margarine is commonly used in place of butter, thereby enabling baked goods to be made pareve. In 2008, a shortage of kosher for Passover margarine made it difficult for kosher consumers to prepare pareve recipes.
Lab meat is made from meat cells but the Chief Rabbi of Israel says that cultured meat will be considered pareve.
