Introduction:

This chapter deals with one of the most important and complex subjects in the laws of blessings. As it is, determining the correct blessing on a single solid food can be complicated as we have clarified throughout previous chapters with regards to determining when a food receives the blessing of Mezonos versus Hamotzi, and when a fruit is defined as Haeitz or Ha’adama, or Shehakol. This chapter takes for granted that all this information has already been clarified by the reader, and now what is left to determine is the proper blessing to be said when there is a mixture of foods of two different blessings, or the proper blessing to be said when one is consuming separately foods of two different blessings with one being secondary to the other. This is known as the subject of Ikar Vitafel. The general rule, as recorded in the Mishnah[1], is that whenever we have a primary and secondary product being eaten, either in a mixture, or one after the other, and the blessing over the primary product exempts the secondary product from requiring a blessing. The quest of this chapter is to determine which food in a mixture is defined as a primary product and which food in a mixture is defined as a secondary product. At times, both foods are defined as primary and hence both deserve a before blessing. In other times, one of the foods is the primary and the second is secondary and hence only one blessing is recited. However, even in such a case, in some scenarios, even when a food is defined as secondary it could or should have a blessing recited before hand, based on the rules that we will explain. A few case examples which will be discussed and clarified throughout the chapter include the following cases:

1. What blessing should be recited on a vegetable sala d that contains fruits, such as pomegranate?
2. What blessing should be recited upon eating crackers with salad or a spread?
3. What blessing should be recited on cereal and milk?
4. What blessing should be recited on a soup or stew that contains solids of different blessings?
5. What blessing should be recited on foods of one blessing that are coated with foods of a different blessing, such as breaded chicken breast, and chocolate covered nuts?

What to do if unsure if one or two blessings are required?[2]

The laws of a primary and secondary food are quite complex and often even after find study of the subject the scholar is left in doubt, or is left with an open debate amongst authorities, as to whether a blessing on the primary food exempts all of the other foods. Such an example is when there is a mixture of very large and recognizable foods of different blessings, as explained in Halacha 2A. In such a case, in order to escape the question one should simply precede the blessing on the secondary food to that of the primary food, in which case, both blessings are justified, as explained in Halacha 1F.

[1] Brachos 44a

[2] See Piskeiy Teshuvos 212:2 case 8; 212:5 footnote 53