Gefilte Fish

Guide Note

Gefilte fish is a preparation of minced, poached fish traditional to Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine.

Fast Facts

1. Traditionally made from carp
2. Served with red or white chrain (horseradish-vinegar sauce)
3. Gefilte means 'stuffed' in Yiddish
4. Often served at Passover seder

Much like fruitcake in the European Christian tradition, gefilte fish is a food often served on holidays that many people don't especially enjoy eating. It originated more or less as a soul food dish in Eastern Europe, designed to stretch fish with fillers such as flour, onions, carrots, and stock (made from fish heads and bones). As a pre-made, instant dish, it also satisfied restrictions against working on the Sabbath (i.e. boning fish or lighting fires, as for cooking). Originally a quintessentially home-cooked item, it is now most commonly found in glass jars at the supermarket, packed in gelatin from the fish stock. It tends to appear in great profusion as Passover approaches, and then to disappear again on the day following the holiday, such that suspicions have arisen as to whether it might always be the same jars, cycling yearly like planets, or like Halloween-sized bags of candy corn. Gourmet versions of gefilte fish exist that are made with fresh ingredients, and that are highly reputed.