A Non-Jew gifted me maple syrup he made by himself. Is it Kosher?
Question:
We recently rented a cottage for a few days. The host, who lived next door was impressed with us, Baruch Hashem, and wanted to leave us a gift. He gave us a jar of maple syrup which he had tapped from his own trees. When I asked him if he ever cooked anything else in his pots he assured me that he did not. Just a bit of water and maple syrup are the only things that ever entered this pot. Although I hadn’t mentioned kashrus in my question he may have known it was on my mind because we had talked about kashrus when he showed us his kitchen.
Answer:
If you are certain, no other ingredients are added (as in what’s the normal way), you may eat it.
Sources:
סתם כלים אינו ב”י. ואין כאן משום בישול נכרי כשאינו נאכל בפ״ע ורק בתערובת, ראה מג״א רג, ב. ואפי׳ את״ל שנאכל כשלעצמו, כיון שהוא כתבלין הרי מה״ט גופא אעעש״מ, ראה שו״ת טוטו״ד תנינא רכה. שואל ומשיב ג, רל. בית שלמה קעח.
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