There were interdicted: _Sheretz haaretz_, creeping things; _sheretz haof_, winged insects, with the exception of the fully developed locust; of _sheretz hamayim_, creatures dwelling in water, those which were not provided with fins and scales; of the feathered species those which were not furnished by nature with the implements with which to clean themselves; of the quadrupeds and animals of the chase those that did not chew the cud or were not provided with split hoofs.
The fat parts of animals were also reserved for the altar and temple offerings.
Special interdictions were announced against dead or injured animals; though these did not extend to strangers. In the New Testament, these laws are also mentioned as applying to healthy animals that had been strangled or killed in any manner other than that prescribed.
In a word, the Mosaic laws prohibited the use of any flesh that was diseased, bruised or rendered unwholesome by the presence of too much blood and also of the flesh of animals that were not cleanly in habits, diet or body.
Oxen were not eaten when older than three years.
It is not necessary to give here the oft-repeated methods of Jewish butchery, as they have been of late so frequently described--and highly endorsed--by medical and scientific men.
Fresh fish (eaten generally broiled) appears to have been the principal article of diet in the environs of the Sea of Galilee. The Jews, however, were not well versed in the character of the different species. They roughly classed them as big, small, clean and unclean.
Salt fish also was imported into Jerusalem.
Locusts were considered to be but meagre fare, but they were eaten salted, dried and roasted with butter in a pan.
An ordinary kitchen was equipped with a range, a heavy caldron, a large fork or flesh hook, a wide, open metal vessel for heating water, etc., two or more earthenware pots and numerous dishes.
The kid, lamb or calf, killed on the advent of a holiday or in honor of a guest, would sometimes be roasted or baked whole, but it was usually cut up and boiled in a caldron filled with water or milk and set over a wood fire, the scum being taken off from time to time and salt and spices added.
The meat and broth were served up separately or together as desire might dictate.