Gefilte fish (; from , , lit. "stuffed fish") is a dish made from a poached mixture of ground deboned fish, such as carp, whitefish, or pike. It is traditionally served as an appetizer by Ashkenazi Jewish households. Popular on Shabbat and Jewish holidays such as Passover, it may be consumed throughout the year. It is typically garnished with a slice of cooked carrot on top.

Historically, gefilte fish was a stuffed whole fish consisting of minced-fish forcemeat stuffed inside the intact fish skin. By the 16th century, cooks had started omitting the labour-intensive stuffing step, and the seasoned fish was most commonly formed into patties similar to quenelles or fish balls.

In Poland, gefilte fish is referred to as ("carp Jewish-style").

Preparation and serving

thumb|200px|left|Gefilte fish: whole stuffed and garnished fish with eggs

Gefilte fish was traditionally cooked inside the intact skin of a fish, forming a loaf which is then sliced into portions before serving. More commonly, it is now most often cooked and served as oval patties, like quenelles. In the United Kingdom, gefilte fish is commonly fried. Gefilte fish is typically garnished with a slice of carrot on top, and a horseradish mixture called chrain on the side.

To make the modernized "gefilte fish" fish balls, fish fillets are ground and mixed with eggs (some recipes exclude eggs), breadcrumbs or matza crumbs, spices, salt, onions, carrots, and sometimes potatoes, to produce a paste or dough which is then formed into balls and simmered in fish stock.

Carp, pike, mullet, or whitefish are commonly used to make gefilte fish; more recently, Nile perch and salmon are also used, with gefilte fish made from salmon having a slightly pink hue. Catfish is not used, however, because it is not kosher.

Sweet and savory versions

Gefilte fish may be slightly sweet or savory. Different preparations and taste preferences may be a proxy for reflecting Ashkenazi Jews' specific ancestral origins in Europe. The preference for sweet gefilte with sugar was popular among Galician Jews from central Europe, while gefilte fish with black pepper was preferred by the more northern Litvak Jews. The boundary separating the two camps was dubbed "the Gefilte Fish Line" by Yiddish linguist Marvin Herzog in the mid-1960s.

Sweet gefilte fish with sugar in Galicia can be traced to the turn of the 19th century, when the first sugar beet factory opened in southern Poland. The sugar industry, which involved many Jews, grew rapidly, and sugar was included in many foods in the region. Culinary historian Gil Marks quipped that, '"Other Jews had savory noodle kugels. You didn't have sweet challah. The idea of putting sugar into anything else was absurd." But Polish Jews began to put sugar into all of these dishes. Previously peppery kugels. The now-sweet-and-sour stuffed cabbage. And gefilte fish.'

Gefilte fish has been described as "an acquired taste".

Grocery stores also sell frozen "logs" of gefilte fish.

A less common belief is that fish are not subject to ayin ra'a ("evil eye") because they are submerged while alive, so that a dish prepared from several fish varieties brings good luck. Moreover, because submersion in the water protects the fish from the evil eye, in the Middle East, fish "became popular for amulets and miscellaneous good luck charms. In Eastern Europe, it even became a name, Fishel, an optimistic reflection that the boy would be lucky and protected."

Gefilte fish is often eaten on the Sabbath. However, on Sabbath, separating bones from meat, as well as cooking, are forbidden by rabbinical law. So usually, the dish is prepared the day before and served cold or at room temperature. Moreover, dag, the Hebrew word for fish, has the numerical value of seven, the day of the Sabbath, further underscoring the serving of fish on that day.

See also

  • Fishcake
  • Polish cuisine
  • Israeli cuisine
  • Jewish cuisine
  • Kamaboko

References

  • In print, see
  • Claudia Roden: "Gefilte Fish and the Jews". Jewish Heritage Online Magazine
  • Haym Soloveitchik: "Rupture and Reconstruction. The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy" (PDF and HTML). In: Tradition, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Summer 1994).