“Oops! I forgot to make a Brachah!”

“Oops! I forgot to make a Brachah!”

A brachah rishonah (preliminary blessing) is required prior to the consumption of even the minutest amount of food or drink. What if a person begins to eat and then realizes they forgot to recite a brachah?

A Brachah when Chewing Food

To recite a brachah, the mouth should ideally be empty. Therefore, the food that is there should be removed, and the brachah recited on it. 

If the chewed-up food is ma’us (disgusting), it should not be removed, as it would go to waste. It should not be swallowed either, but moved to the side of one’s mouth for saying the brachah.

A Brachah when Swallowing Drink

A sip of a drink should likewise be stored at the side of one’s mouth to make a brachah, or spit out when the mouth is too full to speak. The brachah should be recited on the remaining beverage in the cup. 

If there is no more to drink, the mouth is full, and the person is so thirsty that they do not want to spit out the drink, it can be swallowed and then followed by a brachah. Though a brachah must always be recited before consuming food, here the brachah was remembered before the food was swallowed, and we deem that intention sufficient. In such a case, no brachah acharonah (after-blessing) is recited. 

The exception to the “no-more-to-drink-and-so-thirsty” scenario is a drink that is derived from the shivas haminim (the seven species for which Israel is praised)—such as wine or grape juice—which has a specific, more prestigious brachah acharonah that cannot be contravened when drinking a shiur (requisite amount). In that situation, the remaining beverage should preferably be spit out and only the brachah acharonah recited. If thirst overwhelms, and it is swallowed, both a bracha rishonah and a brachah acharonah are recited.

Other poskim reject the notion of saying a brachah rishonah after swallowing the remaining drink. (Some advise thinking of the brachah before swallowing). According to this opinion, only a brachah acharonah is actually said, whether it is a regular beverage or one derived from the shivas haminim (provided that the shiur for a brachah acharonah was consumed).

A Brachah when the Meal is Done

If all the food (or all the drink) was consumed before remembering to recite the brachah, it is advisable to take a small amount of additional food or drink in order to say the proper brachah. #619

https://halacha2go.com?number=619

Practical Halacha: One minute a day. By Horav Yosef Yeshaya Braun, shlita, Mara D'asra and member of the Badatz of Crown Heights.