A Fair Shake: Christian Salt Makes its Debut

By Eleanor Goldberg March 11, 2009

Have you had a recipe call for Christian salt lately? By next week, you just might.

Joe Godlewski, a retired barber from Cresaptown, Md., was fed up with television chefs constantly beckoning for kosher salt. So, he put his styling skills to use and created the first-ever Blessed Christians Salt, a seasoning blessed by an Episcopal priest. The packaging features a bright-red cross.

Godlewski has made his objectives clear to the Associated Press: “This is about keeping Christianity in front of the public so that it doesn’t die. I want to keep Christianity on the table, in the household, however I can do it.” Godlewski plans to offer some proceeds to Christian charities.

But Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, a kosher administrator for the Chicago Rabbinical Council, thinks that the new product may reflect Godlewski’s ignorance of Jewish dietary restrictions, since all salt is inherently kosher. The only distinction between kosher salt and other salts on the market is the former’s coarse-grained nature. Its composition enables butchers to drain the meat’s blood, which Jews are prohibited from consuming. Most chefs prefer the kosher stuff because it’s easy to pinch and portion, and gives their dishes a crisp, clean flavor.

Godlewski is insistent that he has no ill will toward Jews: “There’s no antisemitism. I love Jesus Christ, and he was a Jew.” Considering that the company manufacturing the salt, ICA Gourmet Seasonings, is Jewish owned and sells only kosher products, we’ll take his word for it.

If the salt gains popularity, Godlewski said, he will launch an entire line of Christian-branded foods, including rye bread, bagels and pickles. We hope he won’t mess with gefilte fish, though.

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