The Best of the best at Kosherfest: Celebrity Cookbook Author Susie Fishbein Creates Exclusive Recipes Featuring Kolatin
asked Susie why she decided to use Kolatin in her recipes.
“Kolatin unflavored—it’s just so versatile; there is so much that the product can do,” she explained. “Other products were just not up to par of what I was looking for in my recipes. They didn’t have holding power . . . You want the Kolatin unflavored gelatin in your product. You want the hold, you want the shimmer. For example, you can’t do a panna cotta without good gelatin, or no-bake cheesecakes.”
She went on to explain, “With Kolatin, you can layer; the presentation values are just stunning. Think about the centerpieces, what you can put out as an easy and healthy dessert. I think people, when they hear ‘no-bake’—it means almost no skill. Prep time on gelatin desserts are 5 to 10 minutes. People love that.”
Susie elaborated on the myriad possibilities with Kolatin unflavored.
“Kolatin opens up a world of fast and easy recipes for the kosher consumer,” she said. “I had never written any recipe using kosher gelatin previously. In my world of cooking, I won’t use a product as an ingredient in my recipes unless it yields a perfect result. If I can’t find a chocolate that is perfect, for example, I won’t use it in my recipe. I am so excited about Kolatin; it’s a superb, high-quality product. It’s versatile and allows you to add a multitude of recipes to your cooking repertoire.”
Health-conscious consumers should consider Kolatin’s additional benefits. “There are many health benefits, both direct and non-direct, to using gelatin in your dishes. Gelatin is a natural ingredient and is low-calorie, sugar-free, fat-free, cholesterol-free, and high in protein. Many experts also believe that gelatin itself has benefits for maintaining healthy bones and joints and attractive hair and nails, and it has long been valued as a digestive aid.”
Continue Reading November 5, 2009 at 10:52 pm Leave a comment
Kashrut expert founded Glatech Productions
As originally posted on OUkosher.org:
It’s not often that a company is founded by someone who is a renowned kashrut expert. Yet, that was exactly the case with Glatech Productions. The company, founded by the legendary Rabbi Shimon Eider, a trailblazer in kashrut, manufactures a truly unique gelatin marketed as Kolatin®.
Unique gelatin? Aren’t all gelatins basically the same? What is in fact so special about Kolatin®?
Moshe Eider, Glatech’s Director of Operations, explains, “Real gelatin is an animal derivative, a product of bovine hides. For the kosher consumer, concerned with all the issues that this entails, it presented obvious problems.” Over the years, manufacturers resorted to substitutes, such as fish-bone gelatin, or seaweed based products like agar agar or carageenenan. Other companies used bovine gelatin, but it was obtained from non-kosher hides or bones; no major kosher certifying agency in the United States, Canada, or most of the world would approve it.
Moshe adds, “My father, who was really out there on the front lines, saw the niche for real gelatin that was 100 percent kosher, pareve and Kosher for Passover. And so he diligently began the research process. After five years of research and development, with much determination and perseverance, Kolatin® was successfully developed.”
What is the advantage of real bovine gelatin versus the alternatives?
“For the consumer, it’s the quality. Nothing else matches the mouth feel and texture of true gelatin in gel desserts, custard, or whipped creams. In fact, gelatin is an ideal substitute for butter, particularly when you want to reduce fat content. From silky to chewy, real gelatin’s ability to mimic the texture of natural fatty substances is incomparable. One taste of our Elyon® Gelatin Dessert, and you’ll know the difference.”
Moshe gets warmed up on the topic, and his enthusiasm about Kolatin® is apparent. “For manufacturers, Kolatin’s versatility is a dream. It serves as an ideal emulsifier, thickening agent, binder, and even clarifying agent. It’s used in frozen desserts, confections, chocolates, pharmaceuticals, wines, consommés, jellies, meat products, cheese cakes, syrups, and lots more.
Based on our customer’s requirements, Kolatin® is manufactured to the specifications of each customer’s needs, in areas such as bloom strengths, viscosity and mesh size. We also have a wide variety of gelatins readily available for immediate delivery. Manufacturers who switch to Kolatin® don’t have to retool – its integration into existing systems is virtually seamless.”
Because Glatech Productions has such hands-on experience in production techniques, they designed the company to incorporate modern hi-tech standards as well as extraordinary quality control. Only domestic animals are used, and each run is subject to an extensive series of quality tests, including microbiological analyses. In fact, depending on the end use, products containing Kolatin® may be marketed as USDA Organic Certified.
Additionally, Kolatin® is produced in as ISO-9001 certified facility. From a health conscious perspective, Kolatin® is hard to beat. It’s a low-calorie, fat-free, sugar-free and cholesterol-free ingredient. Moreover, Kolatin® is actually a good source of protein and amino acids.
For the kosher consumer, Kolatin® is nothing short of a breakthrough. “Manufacturing an animal-based gelatin that would also be strictly kosher as well as pareve, presented a number of formidable challenges,” says Moshe Eider. “Kolatin® is a product that meets the strictest standards of kashrut – it’s the only one in the world produced exclusively from Glatt kosher hides – and satisfies the most discerning palettes.”
The Glatech team is always exploring new concepts, both in products and in service. Currently on the horizon is an idea that consumers will surely appreciate: Recipes from Susie Fishbein, world renowned author of the best-selling Kosher by Design cookbook series, will appear on the back of Elyon gelatin dessert retail boxes and be available at http://www.KosherGelatin.com.
For Glatech, having the Orthodox Union certification was non-negotiable. “From a marketing perspective we wanted the agency that is most universally recognized,” says Moshe Eider. “But even more so, we wanted consumers to know that our kashrut is as
genuine as our gelatin!”
For more information about Kolatin® Real Kosher Gelatin, please call 732.364.8700 or visit http://www.KosherGelatin.com.
Rabbi Chananel Herbsman serves as Orthodox Union rabbinic coordinator for Glatech Productions LLC.
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(note: Glatech productions is the sole producer of Kolatin® Real Kosher Gelatin & Elyon® Marshmallows and Gelatin Desserts)
In pâtés, gelatin acts as a fat emulsifier, and acts to bind juices, stabilize the product to prevent it from crumbling
@tishboyle In pâtés, gelatin acts as a fat emulsifier & acts to bind juices, stabilize the product to prevent it from crumbling when sliced.
Kosher marshmallow stood out by Amanda Gold
While most received similar subpar scores, one product shot well ahead of the pack. In fact, it earned a spot in the Taster’s Choice Hall of Fame, an honor reserved for products scoring 80 or higher out of a possible 100 points.
That brand is Elyon
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/article?f=/c/a/2009/06/21/FD00188EA0.DTL#ixzz0M6vWXgQJ
Kosher Gelatin – The real stuff! by Chef Shaya Klechevsky’s of atyourpalate.com
As originally posted on atyourpalate.blog:
In the culinary world, there seem to be a number of sources of chemicals, referred to as “gelatin,” that act as emulsifiers, thickeners, or overall binding agents in cooking. The purposes of gelatin, as you may have guessed, is to either bind a solution to create a gel of some sort (think, jello) or in some cases to thicken and stabilize (think mousse). In some cases, gelatins can be used to clarify a liquid as well (like consommée).
Gelatin, in the strictest sense, is a protein derived primarily from animal sources – particularly the bones and cartilage. That’s why, if you make a chicken soup with lots of good quality chicken bones, when it cools, it will develop a gelatinous consistency, and not be very soupy.
As food technology has improved over the years, non-animal, or pareve, sources of gelatin-like substances have been discovered that produce effects that are similar to animal-derived gelatin (with the exception of gelatin derived from fish bones, which in fact are animal derived, but are considered pareve. Unfortunately, fish-derived gelatin shares the same fate as it’s non-animal-derived counterparts). Some popular alternatives include: agar-agar (a seaweed derivative), kuzu root, guar gum, and carrageenan. While these alternatives do in fact create a gelling or thickening effect in the food they are added to, the quality of the microscopic gel-netting is not nearly as effective or stable as that from real gelatin.
The invention of these pareve gelatin sources has truly revolutionized kosher cooking in the sense that now, one could prepare foods that were typically dairy or pareve (chocolate mousse or fruit jello, for example), and not have the problem of making it a meat or fleishig dish, nor would it have the problem of mixing dairy and meat products together. The only major down-side is that the quality of the gelatin would be poor.
For years, the kosher world has had to settle for these alternatives. However, a company called Glatech Productions, based in Lakewood, NJ, has found a way to derive gelatin from kosher animals, and still have it certified as kosher (by the OU – the Orthodox Union – no less) and pareve, despite it’s non-fish source. This is particularly amazing, because now one could use actual non-fish, animal-derived gelatin for use in all the applications one would need to use gelatin without the fear of converting the dish into a meat one, or in violation of mixing dairy and meat products.
The Glatech gelatin, called Kolatin®, is a bovine-hide derived gelatin. The loophole here, is that the collagen used to make the gelatin comes from the hide, or skin, of the cow, and not from the flesh or bones. This is significant, in the sense that the cow skin is halachically (according to Jewish Law) not considered meat or dairy, rather, it is deemed pareve. I am unclear as to the actual specifics of the halacha, but as it was explained to me, the skin was traditionally used in the preparation of klaf (the scrolls of the Torah were written on dried animal skins, and not paper, this is referred to as klaf). Klaf is not considered to be meat nor is it considered to be dairy, and therefore, does not bear any of the meat/dairy restrictions. Therefore, the collagen that is processed from the hides of the bovine-sources is considered to be pareve.
More information about Glatech Productions, and their kosher gelatin, Kolatin®, may be found on their website at: http://www.koshergelatin.com/
Tish Boyle: coconut-panna-cotta-with-tropical-fruit
“(Gelatin;) when used properly, it can create a texture and mouthfeel in desserts that’s unlike anything else.”, “The secret to gelatin is to add just enough to get the dessert to set, and no more. The dessert should melt on your tongue and certainly should not require any excessive mouth action”
