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Sometimes you may find a kosher certification symbol even on those products whose kosherness would seem obvious. Gentiles may find it funny or even suspect some kind of rip-off when they see, let's say, a bottle of kosher mineral water. Is there unkosher water? Some folks imagine a rabbi making kosher water like a Catholic priest makes holy water: taking regular water, saying a short prayer over it, getting his paycheck and there, you've got kosher water! In fact, a rabbi doesn't make water kosher, but only certifies that it already is kosher. To this end he ascertains, for example, that on the way to the bottle the water wasn't pumped through the same pipes that had previously carried something treif.
When all is said and done, whether something is kosher depends a lot on one's interpretation of the rules. Most of what I wrote above may be easily challenged by someone anyone who's going to say says their rabbi has a different view on this detail or another. There's more than one kosher certifying agency and their criteria aren't exactly the same. There's even more discrepancy among ordinary Jews, both in theory (defining what is or isn't kosher) and in practice (deciding to what extent one is willing to actually follow the rules).
[[File:Katz's Deli - Lunch.jpg|thumb|left|A Reuben sandwich contains meat and cheese, so it isn't kosher, but it is Jewish.]]
There are Jews whose lips will never touch anything they aren't 100% sure to be kosher. On the other hand, there are many Jews who consider the kosher dietary laws ancient superstition and break them with full premeditation. Jewish delicatessens in the United States often sell a snack called Reuben sandwich composed of corned beef and Emmentaler cheese grilled between slices of wheat-and-rye bread. While obviously unkosher, it is nonetheless part of Jewish culinary culture. In Kazimierz, the former Jewish quarter of Cracow, you will find a lot restaurants serving dishes which may look and taste just like traditional kosher delicacies, such as Jewish caviar, cholent or geflite fish. But as long as these establishments use ingredients with no kosher certification, cook with the same equipment for both meat and dairy and don't sell their "leaven" before Passover, then they may be "kosher style", but certainly not kosher. Again, there are Jews who will never patronize such places, but there are plenty of those who wouldn't mind.
