1. Relying on a קפילא ארמאה (Aramean non-Jewish chef) to taste food for forbidden flavor

A nonkosher fish was once found in a pot of meat, and Rebbe Yochanan ruled: ליטעמיה קפילא ארמאה – let an Aramean (non-Jewish) chef taste the food, and if he reports that no flavor of nonkosher fish is detectable, the food is permitted. [Rashi says he must tell us מסיח לפי תומו – in casual conversation, not as testimony.] Rava says that he used to be troubled by a Baraisa, which ruled regarding a pot in which meat was cooked, and subsequently milk was cooked in it, that the milk is forbidden if it absorbed discernible meat flavor. Similarly, terumah which was absorbed in a pot would prohibit chullin (to non-Kohanim) if terumah flavor is discernible. Although in the latter case, a Kohen can taste the food to determine if it has terumah flavor, but who can taste meat to determine if it has milk flavor? The answer is that based on Rebbe Yochanan’s ruling, we may rely on a קפילא ארמאה.

1. מליח כרותח: like cooking or roasting?

Thighs were once salted together with גיד הנשה in the Reish Gelusa’s house. Ravina permitted the thighs, and Rav Acha bar Rav prohibited them. Mar bar Rav Ashi reported that his father permitted such a case. Rav Acha bar Rav asked Ravina what his basis was for prohibiting them. Presumably, it was Shmuel’s ruling, that מליח הרי הוא כרותח – something salted is like something hot, and כבוש הרי הוא כמבושל – something pickled is like something cooked, i.e., both salting and pickling transfer flavor, like heat and cooking do. Therefore, Ravina held that the thighs absorbed forbidden flavor from the גיד הנשה. But, Rav Acha objected. Shmuel ruled that although cooking causes forbidden flavor to spread throughout food, roasting does not!? And salting cannot be tantamount to the heat of cooking, because since Shmuel said that pickling is "כמבושל" – like something cooked, it implies that when he said salting is כרותח – like something hot, it means it is like heat through roasting!? The Gemara concedes that this is a difficulty.

1. Calculating all elements of mixture towards ששים, including the pot

The Gemara taught that prohibited substances which were cooked into food can become nullified in sixty times their volume. Rebbe Chanina says that when measuring such a mixture, משערין ברוטב ובקיפה ובחתיכות ובקדרה – they measure with the permitted soup, the sediments, the slices, and the pot (since the flavor spreads evenly, these are all calculated towards sixty times the forbidden substance). There are two opinions about how much of “the pot” is calculated: some say it means בקדרה עצמה – with the pot itself, i.e., the actual walls of the pot, because we assume the flavor spread evenly throughout the walls. Others say we measure במאי דבלעה קדרה – with that which the pot absorbed, i.e., the permitted material absorbed into the walls of the pot. [Rashi adds that this only applies when the original volume of permitted food is known (and we know how much was absorbed), and that the prohibited food remained unchanged. Otherwise, the pot presumably absorbed an equal ratio of prohibited and permitted matter.]