Question:
What is the correct bracha on corn or potato products? I would appreciate if you could provide detailed sources and debates on the subject as i do not have any such books in my town.
Answer:
A cooked or baked dish made from any other flour other than flour of the 5 grains or rice is Shehakol. Therefore, the bracha on a cooked or baked dish, which is primarily made from corn or potato flour and does not include the 5 grains, is Shehakol.
The source to this halacha originates from a great dispute among rishonim .The Gemara says : Rav and Shmuel (Gemara Brachos 37a-b) hold that mixtures made from orez or dochen are not mezonos. The gemara finally rejects their opinion and concludes that the bracha rishona on orez bread is mezonos and bracha achrona is Boreh Nefashot.
Dispute amongst the rishonim about dochen: The Rif (Brachos 26a) rules that cooked orez is mezonos, while bread made from dochen is shehakol. The Rambam (Brachos 3:10) agrees that orez that’s cooked or baked into bread is mezonos, but dochen bread is shehakol.
There is a Gaon (quoted by Talmidei Rabbenu Yonah Berachot 26a), Rabbenu Yonah (Berachos 26a), and the Rosh (Brachos 6:8) argue that the bracha on dochen bread is mezonos since dochen is filling just like orez.
Identifying orez and dochen: Tosfos 37a and Rashi explain that orez is rice and dochen is millet. However the Beis Yosef 208:8 sides with the opinion of Tosfos.
Halachic ruling: The Shulchan Aruch 208:7-8 rules like the Rif and Rambam that cooked rice or rice bread is mezonos, but dochen bread is shehakol.The Beiur Halacha asks why the Shulchan Aruch ruled like the Rif and Rambam against the majority of rishonim. He concludes that one who wants to make mezonos on dochen bread may do so.
Other satiating grains: The Talmidei Rabbenu Yonah (Brachos 26a s.v. VePat) quotes one Goan and Rabbenu Yonah as having ruled that any grain, which we know provides sustenance is mezonos. Tur 208:8 agrees. Beiur Halacha s.v. Al Pat quotes the Tosfos HaRosh as agreeing as well.
Halachic ruling: The Beiur Halacha points out that Shulchan Aruch who ruled that dochen bread and panisu bread was Shehakol, clearly ruled against the Rabbenu Yonah. Accordingly, the Chasam Sofer originally assumes that bread made from born flour can not be mezonos considering that we hold like the Rif and Rambam as opposed to the Rabbenu Yonah.
Corn products: The Talmidei Rabbenu Yonah offers two explanations as to why the bracha on bread made from lentils is shehakol and not haadama. First, the baked product is a complete change from the lentils themselves and does not warrant boreh pri haadama. Second, lentils are not usually eaten in the form of bread. The Chasam Sofer applies these two answers to bread made from corn flour. According to the first one, the bracha is shehakol, but according to the second, since the primary way to eat corn is in this way, the bracha is haadama.
The conlcuion about corn products is as follows: A lot of poskim rule that foods made from corn flour are shehakol since the flour is ground to the extent that it is not recognizable as corn. Their rulings are based on the Rama 202:7. Vezos HaBracha (p. 200).
Potato products: The accepted opinion is that foods which are primarily made from potato flour is Shehakol based on the Rama 202:7.
The Mishna Brurah 202:42 writes that the halacha is if the vegetables were crushed but still it’s intact then it retains the original Bracha, whereas if it’s crushed and unrecognizable the Bracha is Shehakol. This is also the opinion of the Vezos HaBracha (pg 100, chapter 12) .
If one grinds a vegetable or grain not from the five grains and cook it, if the vegetable is still recognizable in the product then the Bracha is the same the vegetable, however if it’s ground and unrecognizable then the Bracha is shehakol unless it’s still intact. |