KHH #131 - Cooked and Fried Bread, Rabbi Eliezer Lerner

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     We have seen that baking is an essential characteristic of bread. What is the halacha if someone takes baked bread and subsequently cooks it? Will it maintain its bread status?
According to the Gemara Brachot (37a), it depends on the pieces of bread after the cooking has been completed. If the pieces remain “intact” the bracha continues to be Hamotzi. If the pieces are no longer “intact”, the bracha is Mezonot.
     What is the definition of “intact”? According to the Yerushalmi (Brachot 6:1), if the individual pieces of bread are at least the size of a kzayit, they are considered to be intact, If they are smaller than a kzayit, the bracha will be Mezonot.
     What is the definition of “cooked” bread? If the bread was placed in a Kli Rishon (a hot pot of liquid boiled over the fire) it is considered cooked. If it was placed in a Kli Shaini (the liquid was poured from the original cooking pot into a second pot or a bowl and then the bread was placed inside) it is not considered cooked. Deep frying is the equivalent of cooking. There is no clear consensus as to the status of regular frying with a smaller amount of oil. The Mishna Brurah suggests that one avoid eating such foods except during a bread meal (when the question of a separate bracha rishona/achrona is irrelevant). (Shulchan Aruch O.C.168:10; Mishna Brurah #52, 56)
     What is the proper bracha for “matza brei” (small pieces of matza soaked in eggs and fried)? If the matza was deep fried the bracha would be Mezonot. Most matza brei, however, is subject to regular frying. According to the Mishna Brurah, this creates a “safek” as to whether the bracha is Hamotzi or Mezonot. Optimally, one should recite Hamotzi on a regular kzayit of matza and only then eat the matza brei. This is also the opinion of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. The Chazon Ish, on the other hand, did not consider regular frying to be cooking, and therefore allowed one to recite Hamotzi directly on the matza brei. If one wishes to avoid the need to recite Hamotzi, Rav Auerbach suggests that the matza pieces can be briefly boiled in a KIi Rishon prior to frying. This will nullify its bread status. (V’zot Habracha p. 25; Laws of Brachos p. 266)
     French toast is normally made from pieces of bread that are larger than a kzayit. The bracha, therefore, remains Hamotzi.
     The bracha for croutons is somewhat problematic. Some croutons are baked. Others are deep fried or regular fried. Since croutons are usually smaller than a kzayit the bracha on baked croutons should be Hamotzi, on deep fried - Mezonot, and regular fried croutons would be a safek. However, commercially produced croutons are generally made from bread, baked specifically for this purpose. In this case, a number of Achronim suggest that they are considered Pat Haba’ah B’kisnin - hard, cracker-like products usually eaten as a snack. (See KHH #123.) As long as there isn’t any Kviat Seudah, the bracha in all cases is Mezonot. (V’ten Bracha Handbook p. 36; V’zot Habracha p. 122)