Author name: Eric Rosenberg

No, gar fish is not kosher. Its hard, interlocking ganoid scales can’t be removed without tearing the skin, the same issue that makes sturgeon and paddlefish non-kosher too.

Sukkot kosher foods follow ordinary kashrut law. Here’s the Yom Tov cooking rule that does change, the traditional stuffed dishes and fish, and which Sukkot foods actually need a hechsher.

Yes, flathead is kosher. It has fins and removable ctenoid and cycloid scales, and the Kashrut Authority in Sydney lists it, but don’t confuse it with the non-kosher flathead catfish.

Basa fish is not kosher. It’s a farmed Pangasius catfish with no scales at all, which fails the Torah’s fins-and-scales rule, a ruling Chabad’s OU-sourced kosher fish list confirms by name.

Hoki (blue grenadier) kosher status is disputed. See what Kosher Australia and kashrut.com say, why its scales are the issue, and how to buy it safely.

Rosh Hashanah doesn’t add new kosher rules, just centuries of symbolic customs: apples and honey, a round challah, and a fish head for a sweet new year.

Yes, brill is kosher, a flounder-family flatfish with fins and scales. Its close relative European turbot often isn’t. See how to tell them apart and check any fish.

Yes, butterfish is kosher. It has fins and small cycloid scales per Leviticus 11:9-12. But escolar and oilfish are sometimes sold as “butterfish,” so confirm the species.