The Brochos for Foods Eaten Together, part 1 vol.1 no.7

1. When two foods are eaten together one of them is often considered subordinate to the other and the brocha is only recited on the main food. Such situations include: food mixes; soups; spreads; coatings; thin food layers; etc. It should be noted that these Halachos do not apply to mixtures containing the five grains; this will be discussed at a later time.
   1. Food mixes: If two foods are thoroughly mixed together and are eaten together in each forkful, one food may be considered subordinate to the other. The general rule is that the food which makes up the smaller quantity of the dish is considered subordinate to the other food and does not require its own brocha, e.g. the meat in meat and mashed potatoes, or the peas in tuna fish and peas. Similarly, if the food merely contributes to the taste or texture of the mixture, the flavoring food is regarded as subordinate and no brocha is required over it, e.g. ketchup on spaghetti, onions in egg salad, fruit in a flavored yogurt. If, however, one's main interest is in one of the foods in the mixture, it is considered the main food and the others are subordinate to it and require no brocha of their own. Therefore when eating stuffed cabbage if one's main interest is in the meat or rice a brocha is recited only on that food.
   2. The above Halacha applies even in a mixture of many foods. If the minority of the mixture requires a different brocha than the majority, the minority is regarded as subordinate and no brocha is recited over it. Therefore, in fruit cocktail the brocha of Haodoma is not recited over the pineapple bits (1).
   3. If the foods are not thoroughly mixed and are not eaten together in each forkfull, e.g. large slices of meat and potatoes in a stew, they are not considered a mixture, and require their own respective brochos.
   4. Fruits placed in cereal do not necesarily constitute a mixture and may therefore require their own brocha. If the fruit were placed to enhance or flavor the cereal they are regarded as subordinate to the cereal and require no brocha. If, however, they were placed to be eaten along with the cereal they require their own brocha (2).
2. Spreads: When foods are not mixed together, but one food is eaten as a spread for the other, e.g. butter or cream cheese on a cracker, the spread is regarded as subordinate and does not require its own brocha. This rule extends to all food dips which are eaten to enhance the main food. In such cases the secondary food is regarded as subordinate and requires no brocha.

   (1) Pischei Halacha p. 108 f.n. 11 (2) Igros Moshe O.H. 4 p. 72

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