Before eating any food, one must recite one of the six bracha rishona’s: ha’eitz, ha’adamah, hagafen, mezonos, hamotzi, and shehakol. Ha’eitz and ha’adamah are recited for produce of the ground which is in its natural state, with ha’eitz for produce that does not have to be replanted each year, such as fruit and tree nuts, and ha’adamah for those that do, like vegetables, grains, and peanuts. If produce of the ground is crushed or ground to the point that it is no longer in its “original form”, the bracha changes as follows. For most foods the bracha is “downgraded” from the original ha’eitz or ha’adamah to the generic shehakol, which is used for all foods that have no special bracha. But for the five primary grains – wheat, rye, spelt, oats, barley – rice, and grapes the bracha is “upgraded” to mezonos (five grains and rice) or hagafen (grape juice or wine).
For example: the bracha rishonah on potatoes is ha’adamah since they have to be replanted each year, and the bracha on potato kugel depends on how finely the potatoes are ground: if they were processed in a blender to the point that they are no longer recognizable as potatoes then the bracha is downgraded shehakol, but if not then the bracha remains ha’adamah. Similarly, the bracha on quinoa or corn is ha’adamah but the bracha on quinoa noodles or corn tortillas is shehakol.
The bracha on foods made from the flour of the five primary grains (wheat, rye, spelt, oats, barley) depends on whether the resulting food is “bread-like” or not, as follows. If the food is baked and has tzuras hapas (“looks bread-like”), the bracha is hamotzi unless it has a strong taste of some other ingredient (e.g., chocolate cake), is filled with some other food (e.g., a meat pie), or is baked to the point that it is crunchy (e.g. crackers). The latter three cases – cake, pie, and crackers – are collectively known as pas haba’ah b’kisnin, and for those the bracha is mezonos unless the person makes a meal of them, in which case the bracha is hamotzi.
We have already noted that shehakol is recited on produce of the ground which has been downgraded from its original bracha. In addition, shehakol is recited on all foods which are not produce of the ground, such as meat, fish, eggs, milk and dairy products, honey, and water. Included in this group is mushrooms (which, in this context, are not considered to grow from the ground), fruit juices, and alcoholic beverages (other than grape juice, wine, and brandy).
If a food contains multiple components that demand different brachos the general rules are (a) if one of those components is from the five primary grains, the bracha is mezonos, and (b) if not, the bracha is decided by whichever component is the “main” one in this food (and, in turn, that usually is dictated by whichever component is the majority of the food). Common examples of where this issues comes into play are soups, soufflés, fruit cocktails, salads, stuffing, and sushi. Each situation is unique and requires its own decision as to the proper bracha.
There are basically three possible brachos recited after eating food: birchas hamazon, al hamichyah, and borei nefashos. Birchas hamazon is recited after any food which demands the bracha rishonah of hamotzi. Al hamichyah is recited after eating foods that contain one of the five grains, and a variation of al hamichyah is recited after drinking grape juice, wine, or one of the seven special fruits of Eretz Yisroel (wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranate, olives, dates). Borei nefashos is recited after eating rice, fruit, vegetables, nuts, meat, fish, beverages, and any other food that does not qualify for birchas hamazon or al hamichyah.