Question:
What is the bracha on Popcorn and other corn snacks? Would the bracha remain haadama or would it change because the popcorn is now a different entity.
Answer:
Popcorn is HaAdama either because the seed is considered to be recognizable , see Sefer Vezos HaBracha (pg 100, chapter 12); or even though the seed has changed to the point that it’s unrecognizable as corn but nonetheless the seed is still intact However,there are some poskim who consider it Shehakol, In the sefer Vezos HaBracha (pg 100, chapter 12) he quotes Rav Mordechai Eliyahu who says that the Bracha on popcorn is Shehakol.
Corn flakes can either be shehakol or haadoma depending on how they are made. If made from flour – then shehakol. If made from rolled grits – then haadoma. Rav Yisrael Belsky in Shulchan HaLevi (3:13 p. 37) rules that cornflakes which are made from corn flour is Shehakol, while if it is made from corn that was ground into grits, the bracha is HaAdama. He adds that if it is made from a combination of flour and grits, the bracha is HaAdama.
Corn tortillas and corn chips would be shehakol since both are processed to the point where they loose their ideal brocha.
Veten Bracha (Halachos of Brochos by Rabbi Bodner pg 410, chapter 22) writes that corn tortillas and corn chips would be shehakol since both are processed to the point where they loose their ideal brocha. Rav Yisrael Belsky in Shulchan HaLevi (3:13 p. 37) rules that corn chips or corn tortillas are Shehakol in America or any country in which the majority of the corn isn’t planted in order to be eaten as corn chips or tortillas. He explains that corn chips are made from cornmeal (corn flour) and so the bracha is Shehakol.
The majority of Sephardim poskim hold the bracha is Haadama. Corn bread is mezonot since it has wheat flour in it however Gluten free cornbread is shehakol.
[The Mishna Brurah 208:33 brings the Pri Megadim that cornbread made without wheat is haadama since the corn is planted for that reason. However, he also cites the Chasam Sofer OC 1:50 who argues that it is shehakol since it is primarily planted for animal food.]
Mashed potatoes are HaAdama. Rav Yakov Emden writes that mashed potatoes are haadama even if they are mashed well with a spoon. The Mishna Brurah 202:40-2 writes that mashed potatoes are like the case of mashed dates which we follow Shulchan Aruch and only in the case of jam do we follow the Rama. Vezos HaBracha (chap 12, pg 99) writes that mashed potatoes are HaAdama and explains (pg 251) that since the texture and color are the same as the original vegetable the Bracha is the HaAdama. The sefer Halachos of Brachos (pg 406) quotes Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, Rav Sheinburg, and Rav Elyashiv who agree that mashed potatoes are HaAdama.
Many poskim do say that instant mashed potatoes are HaAdama since the result retains a resemblance of the original vegetable. Rav Yisrael Belsky in Shulchan HaLevi (3:12 p. 37) quotes Rav Moshe Feinstein as saying that instant mashed potatoes are HaAdama. Halacha Brurah 202:25 agrees.
With regarding pringles and bamaba there is great argument as to what the bracha is.
Some say that pringles are HaAdama since the result retains a resemblance of the original vegetable. Some hold that it is Shehakol.
(Vesen Bracha in name of Rav Shlomo Zalman and Rav Moshe Feinstein, Vezos haberacha pg. 239 in the name of Rav Elyashiv.)As to regarding the bracha of bamba, Many are of the opinion that since the corn flour is totally unrecognizable, Bamba is Shehakol ( Vezos Habracha pg. 389).However, some claim that since the corn is grown specifically for Bamba, and there are few ingredients but the puffed corn flour itself, the Beracha remains Haadama. |