Kashrut
Among the numerous laws that form "kashrut" are prohibitions on the consumption of certain animals (such as pork and shellfish), mixtures of meat and milk, and the commandment to slaughter mammals and birds according to a process known as "shechita". There are also laws regarding agricultural produce that might impact the suitability of food for consumption.
Trefa Banquet
The menu, which eschewed pork but included other non-kosher foods such as littleneck clams, soft-shell crabs, shrimp, frog legs, as well as dairy-based desserts to follow the meat-based meal, reflected the dining tendencies of Reform Jews at the time, who maintained the prohibition against pork but commonly ignored others, such as the one on shellfish.