Blessings for Salad

Question

Shalom Rav.
Before eating say a salad, should I start with “fruit from tree” (avacado, olives) then continue with “Adamah” toms, cues etc. then “Bidvaro” for the cheese?

Would really like to know the correct method. Is there a special order?
Also having said the blessing for eating the avocado, do I need to say another for the olives, or is it covered with the first blessing.
Thanks for any help that you can give me.

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    As a rule, foods that share the same Bracha need only one Bracha recited over them. So, for example, if you have olives and avocado, you would only need to make one haEitz over one of them, and the other one is covered by it. What makes it a little confusing is that normally, when possible, one makes a Bracha over something that is whole rather than a piece.

    So, again, if you have a whole olive and a piece of avocado, you should make the Bracha over the olive. Olives, in general, take precedence as they are one of the seven foods that the land of Israel is famous for, and therefore they are considered to be of greater importance than other foods.

    If, however, you particularly enjoy avocado and you are not so keen on olives, you are just eating them because they were in the salad, then it would be correct to make the Bracha over the avocado.

    But, if the avocado and the olives are simply garnishes to the salad and they are not things that you would have asked for, then it is not so clear whether you should make a separate Brocha of haEitz over them or whether making a haAdomah would suffice. Some opinions state that the avocado or the olive are secondary (tefel) to the rest of the salad and they do not need a separate Brocha. If, however, you are eating an avocado salad that has some other vegetables in it as well, the correct Brocha would be haEitz as the avocado is the main part of the salad (ikkar).

    With regards to the cheese in the salad, if you particularly like cheese and that is why you ordered or made the salad, then you should make a Shehakol over the cheese. If that is not the case then you should make a Shehakol over something else such as a drink before you eat the cheese and that way the Shehakol over the drink will cover the cheese as well.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team