Ikar and Tofel (Ikur and Tofeil)

General Rule: The Mishna on Berachot 44a states that when one eats an Ikar(primary) and a Tofel(secondary) food, he only makes a beracha on the Ikar food and that will exempt the beracha for the Tofel food.  This principle works both for the brocho rishona and for the bracha achrona.

Interesting to Note: Unless, one eats less than a kzayis of Ikar, he can’t say a bracha achrona for the ikar food.  In such a case, if he did eat more than a kzayis of tofel, he would have to make a beracha achrona on the tofel even though he didn’t make a beracha rishona on the tofel.

Example: The bracha rishona for a Pie is only on the Ikar – the crust, mezonos. The bracha achronah in most cases, where you had less than a kezayit of crust and more than a kezayit of filling, you only make a bracha achrona on the tofel, the filling, bore nefashot.

There are 3 categories of Ikar and Tofel: We shall go through them one by one.

1) Tofel by Function
2) Tofel HaMalefet
3) Tofel by Form

Outline / Summary Chart

Differences	1. Tofel by Function	2. Tofel HaMalefet	3. Tofel by Form
What form is it in?	Two separate items and can even be eaten separately	Two separate items but must be eat together	A mixture through cooking and will eat the items in the same spoonful
How do you consider the secondary item?	The tofel item serves the ikar	The secondary item enhances the ikar	Both items can even be equally good
What about bread or mezonos?	Even bread can be tofel	Bread and mezonot can’t be tofel	Is almost always the Ikar
Personal choice?	Subjective	Subjective	Objective

 
1) Tofel by Function, also known as Tofeil HaMeshameset, is when you have two separate food items and one item serves the other item.

• What I mean by “serves” is that the Tofel item is only coming for the sake of the Ikar item and had you not eaten the Ikar then you wouldn’t eat the Tofel either.
• Serving can include: when the Tofel helps by taking away the sharp taste of the Ikar, when the Tofel adds color or smell, when the tofel is decorating, or when the Tofel helps bind ingredients together.
• Only for this category, the Tofel item does not need to be eaten along with the Ikar item (but it needs to either be present in front of you or in your mind as you make the beracha.(- Tosfot))
• Must stress – we only apply this rule of ikar and tofel in a case where one eats the tofel AFTER eating the ikur food. In that case he wouldn’t make a bracha on the tofel, but where one eats the Tofel BEFORE the ikar item – he makes a beracha on the tofel item.

(What beracha is actually a harder question – First off, eating the tofel before the Ikar won’t affect the beracha achrona. Regarding the bracha rishona, if one eats the Tofel first, according to the Rema one makes a shehakol regardless of the item consumed, whereas the Beit Yosef holds one would make the normal bracha for the tofel item. Some Ashkenazim hold like the former while all Sephardim hold like the latter. If your Ashkenaz then check with your local orthodox rabbi. If you don’t have a rabbi then either works just perfectly.)

• Even bread can be Tofel
• Example: If I were to eat something spicy like red hot peppers or drink whisky and I wanted to soothe the harsh aftertaste, so I ate a cracker – I would only make a beracha on the peppers/whisky and not on the cracker. The same would work if I ate bread to soothe the taste, I wouldn’t make hamotzei on the bread since it is tofel.
• Example 2: If there were little slices of carrots decorating chicken, and even if I were to eat the carrot separately – I wouldn’t make a beracha on them, but rather only on the chicken.
• The basic rule of this category is that the tofel item is totally subordinate and I have no desire of the item for its own sake. However, say I wanted to eat the tofel item for its own sake as well, then it wouldn’t be tofel anymore and it would require its own beracha. Back to our example with the whisky and the bread – If I wanted the bread to both soothe the harsh taste AND for some satiation, I would need to say hamotzei. (The poskim advise to avoid eating bread as a tofel because who really knows if they want to be satiated or not and there is a chance you really should make a beracha. So the best thing to do is to have intention to get satiation from the bread and then you can make a beracha without doubt.)

2) Tofel HaMalefet, literally translates "Tofel which accompanies”. Until now we have discussed a situation where one only wanted the tofel item to serve the ikar. What about a case where one wanted to also enjoy the secondary item, as the secondary item adds to the primary item? 
So it depends – If the two items come together as one then it could possibly be a case of ikar and tofel. If however they come separately then they would each require their own Berachot. (This isn’t similar to the previous category, because over there the guy didn’t want to taste the tofel item for the tofel item’s sake – here he does.)

• In this category, the guy must want to eat both items because he enjoys both items. However he must also have some preference out of the two items. He must consider one to be more important and thus the reason why he is eating, and the second item is only enhancing the first item. In most cases it’s fairly obvious – ice cream with fruit topping or rice cakes with peanut butter on top – but there are cases where it could be less clear.
• Take for example, chocolate covered peanuts (or raisins) – if one views the item in such a way that the chocolate is enhancing the nut/fruit and he really wants to eat the nut/fruit – then make a ha’etz/ha’adoma, If he really wants to eat the chocolate but the nut adds a crunch (or whatever) – then make a shehakol. If he really likes them both and thinks they are the perfect combination because he likes them equally then he should make two Berachot. (Procedure: If you have another nut/fruit available, make a beracha on that and have intention to cover the nut/fruit inside the candy. If not then make a shehakol and have in mind to only cover the chocolate, then nibble at the chocolate shell. Afterwards make a beracha nut/fruit and eat the entire piece.)
• For this category, they need to be eaten together. There is an exception, where one is eating the enhancing tofel and by the end the ikar is all gone and there is a little tofel left – he doesn’t need to make a beracha on the tofel. Example: One is eating potato latkes with applesauce and by the end finishes the latke and still has some applesauce left over. He can finish what he has on his plate without making a new bracha – but if one were to pour applesauce to just eat more plain applesauce then he would need to make a brocho. 
• Mezonot or bread – they cannot become tofel and if they were used in such a manner then two Berachot would be required. This barely comes up because normally people eat a cracker with tuna and consider the cracker the ikar and the tuna as the enhancer. If however, the guy is weird and considers it the other way around, then he would need to make a beracha on the mezonot tofel and the ikar tuna. (When I say mezonot can’t become a tofel –it doesn’t include rice. Even though rice is mezonot it doesn’t have the chashivut, importance, that the rest of mezonot things have.)

3) Tofel by Form, when several items merge forming one mixture unit.

• What is considered a mixture – they have been cooked or baked together and the pieces are small enough that you generally eat them together on the same spoonful or forkful.
• Examples: Chicken lo-mein, Soup [the various items must be cooked together, but if you just added in the stuff (matzah ball) afterwards then it would be two separate items and could only be a case of Ikar and tofel if it qualifies for the first two categories above]
• Fruit Salad is also an example even though it’s not cooked since it’s mixed completely and you eat several pieces per forkful. (Although cooking does the trick, it doesn't have to be cooked as long as its mixed really well.) Therefore, on the salad make a beracha on the majority component.
• Example which aren’t: Stew and potatoes where one generally eats the items separately – even though cooked together since not eaten on same forkful it is two separate items.
• What bracha do you make on this category – There are two steps:

  1. If there is mezonot in the mixture – then that is the automatic ikar and you would make a mezonot (Not rice).

  Exception: If the mezonot item is merely "serving" the other items in the mixture then it wouldn’t be the ikar. For example, if it merely added color or was used as a binding agent like in twizlers – then it could be tofel. Twizlers are shehakol.

  2. If no mezonos – then go after the majority ingredient which is based off of volume.
  Objective: We go after the majority, even if you like the other item better.

Some Common Foods

Onion Rings / Knishes – mezonot. This is because both the onion and the mezonot batter are cooked together and eaten together and thus qualifies are category 3. In Category 3 we make a beracha on mezonot almost always.

Cheese Cake – depends if there is a lot of mezonot or a thin layer. If thin layer then shehakol, if thick dough then mezonot.

Cholent – if all the pieces are generally eaten in one spoonful then would only require one beracha. Assuming there is even a little barley in there – then the one beracha would be a mezonot. If the meat pieces are left big, so big that you only eat them by themselves – then make two berachos, a mezonot on the rest and a shehakol on the meat. If the potatoes are also left really big – then make 3 berachot – mezonot on rest, shehakol on meat and ha’adoma on potatoes.

Fruit Salad –  an example of the 3rd category, even though it’s not cooked since its mixed completely and you eat several pieces per forkful. Therefore make a beracha on the majority food.

Ice Cream in a Cone – If the cone is merely serving the ice cream – then only make a shehakol. If the cone is enhancing the ice cream, which is the case for most people, then you’ll need to make two Berachot since mezonot in category two still gets a beracha.

Ice Cream Sandwich – Since the mezonot cookie is enhancing the ice cream you need to make a shehakol on the ikar ice cream but since this is category 2, you also make a mezonot on the tofel mezonot

Frank in a Blank – category 3, mezonot

Fried Chicken or Fish (with coating) – category 3, if thin batter (the mezonot is only being used to “serve”) then shehakol, if thick (the batter is adding flavor or crunch) then mezonot.

Corn Muffin – category 3, and has more mezonot than for just binding – so mezonot.

Jelly Donut – the filling is an enhancer to dough and therefore mezonot.

Marshmallow with toasted coconut topping – shehakol, since the topping is an enhancer

Meatballs and Spaghetti – category 3, if eaten in same forkful then mezonot. If eaten separately then 2 berachot – mezonot on noodles and shehakol on meatballs.

Pancakes – category 3 which has mezonot for flavoring and hence mezonot.

Pie  - since it’s cooked together its category 3 and since it has some mezonot in it we say a mezonot, however like we mentioned above – if you only had one piece you might not have had a kzayit and therefore should say a borei nefashot as the beracha achrona.

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