Monday, 20 October 2014
Love by Gefilte Fish
By Trudi Kappel
Gefilte fish and matzo balls are the quintessential Jewish ceremonial foods. I’ve met few people who actually crave them but a Passover seder would be incomplete without them.
Making gefilte fish is a time consuming endeavor and I don’t know anyone who still makes her (always “her”) own.
It involves filleting three different kinds of fish, chopping them finely, chopping onions and carrots, forming patties, wrapping the patties in fish skin and then simmering for hours in a fish broth.
It is easier to buy from Manischewitz. Unfortunately, the commercial product is bland, almost tasteless unlike those made by my grandmother.
My grandmother, Scheina, grew up in a small village in Poland. Since secondary education for Jewish girls was not available in her shtetl, she boarded with relatives in a larger town where it was. Her assigned household chore was to make gefilte fish each week for the Sabbath meal.
After completing high school, she traveled to Berne, Switzerland for additional education. While it was unusual at the turn of the 20th century, her parents provided advanced education not only for their son but also for their four daughters.
Scheina enrolled in medical school at the University of Berne. My charismatic grandfather, Zander, was a student leader and always an event organizer. He was born near Minsk in Belorussia and was enrolled as a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of Berne.
One spring, he organized a seder for Jewish students. Scheina volunteered to make gefilte fish for the feast.
Zander was enchanted with the cute medical student who knew how to make this traditional food. She was smart and she could cook!
Love blossomed. They eloped. Only then did Zander learn that gefilte fish was the only thing that his bride knew how to cook.
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Posted by Ronni Bennett at 05:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post
Comments
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The only thing she could cook? That is hysterical! I grew up in a household with matzo balls and gefilte fish, but the gefilte fish came out of a jar.
Posted by: Vicki Jones | Monday, 20 October 2014 at 05:45 AM
Vicki - The hardest part of making gefilte fish for me was "opening the jar."
Posted by: Millie Garfield | Monday, 20 October 2014 at 09:20 AM
Loved it!!! My own Polish grandmother made a gefilte fish the like of which I have never tasted since. It was dark - yes dark. And sweet. I loved it and miss it and don't know how to repeat it.
Such a pity!
Thank you for opening the door. I must send Ronni my own gefilte fish poem.
Posted by: arlene corwin | Tuesday, 21 October 2014 at 09:22 AM