Dickinson Dining Goes Kosher

The KOVE station in the Dining Hall serves certified kosher and vegan meals 

KOVE image

The KOVE (kosher + vegan) station in the Dining Hall now offers lunch and dinner, Sunday through Friday afternoon.

Dickinson College has increasingly become a major center for Jewish life and an exciting place to explore Jewish heritage with a constant stream of new programs and initiatives. As one of the first liberal-arts colleges to establish a major in Judaic studies, Dickinson is expanding academic opportunities for students with additional course offerings, new study-abroad options in Israel and opportunities to explore Jewish communities in different parts of the world. Dickinson’s Milton B. Asbell Center for Jewish Life is adding extracurricular groups under its umbrella, becoming a parent organization not just for an extraordinarily active Hillel chapter, but also for a kosher cooking club and a Jewish men’s group. Now the college has added a kosher meal option that will give both Jewish and non-Jewish students an even bigger taste of Jewish tradition.

The KOVE (kosher + vegan) station in the Dining Hall now offers lunch and dinner, Sunday through Friday afternoon. All the food is certified by Star-K, a nationally recognized kosher-certification agency based in Baltimore with the contact person being Rabbi Mayer Kurcfeld. Louise Powers and Ricki Gold serve as Dickinson's mashgichot (kosher food-preparation supervisors) and they direct the new kosher kitchen at the college to ensure that all the food meets kashrut (Jewish dietary laws) standards.

"Kosher food is more than matzo-ball soup and gefilte fish," said Powers. "We want to be sure it is tasty enough so anyone would enjoy it. Food can be kosher and delicious." The recipes she and Gold are considering extend far beyond stereotypical kosher fare. A few entrees they have been working on with Chef Butch Myers, the kosher head chef, include citrus London broil, coffee-rubbed brisket and falafel chicken. The KOVE also will feature college standbys such as hot dogs, hamburgers, macaroni and cheese and salad—all kosher, of course.

All of the food is prepared fresh with certified-kosher ingredients. When possible, they plan to use produce from the Dickinson College Farm and other area outlets. The KOVE will offer a dairy or fish entree for lunch, meat for dinner and vegan entrees will be available at both meals. Thursday nights will feature international kosher and vegan cuisine and home-style food on Sundays.

"Food brings people together, and now Dickinson students who keep kosher can sit down and talk with all their friends over lunch or dinner," said Gold. "The college also can attract more Jewish students who want to come to Dickinson and need a kosher option."

Published August 31, 2010