Gefilte fish

Ingredients

Fish

• 1 kgmixed carp, pike and whitefish fillets, bones and skin reserved
• 1onion
• 2eggs
• 3 tbspmatzo meal
• 1 tspsugar
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspwhite pepper
• 60 mlcold water

Broth

• the reserved bones, heads and skin
• 2onions
• 3carrots
• 1 tspsugar
• 2 tspsalt
• 2 litreswater

To serve

• horseradish, or chrain with beetroot

Directions

1. Ask the fishmonger to fillet the fish and to give you every bone, head and piece of skin.
2. Simmer the bones, heads and skin with the onions, one sliced carrot, sugar and salt in the water for 45 minutes, then strain it.
3. Make the broth first and make it properly. The patties poach in it and take everything they have from it, so a weak broth gives bland gefilte fish.
4. Mince the fish fillets with the remaining onion, either through a grinder or in short pulses in a processor.
5. Do not reduce it to a paste. It should stay slightly coarse, because over-processed fish sets rubbery.
6. Mix it with the eggs, matzo meal, sugar, salt and pepper, then beat in the cold water a spoonful at a time.
7. The cold water is what makes it light. Beaten in gradually it holds, and it is the difference between a tender quenelle and a dense lump.
8. Wet your hands and form oval patties about 8 cm long.
9. Bring the broth to a bare simmer and lower the patties into it.
10. Slice the remaining carrots into rounds and add them to the pot.
11. Cover and poach very gently for 1 hour 30 minutes, never letting it boil, which would break the patties apart.
12. Cool them in the broth and then refrigerate overnight, still sitting in it.
13. The broth sets to a light jelly around them, which is how it is served and is part of the dish rather than an accident.
14. Serve cold, each patty with a carrot round on top and horseradish alongside.
15. The bones are removed in advance because sorting bones from food is forbidden on Shabbat, which is the entire reason the dish exists in this form.

Technique

• Sugar in the mix is the Polish style; the Lithuanian style is peppery and unsweetened, and the difference is a long-standing argument.
• Carp gives the traditional texture, pike the flavour, and whitefish lightness. A mixture is better than any one alone.
• It must be genuinely cold when served. Warm gefilte fish is nobody’s idea of the dish.

Substitutions

• Any mild white fish, though the texture will be softer.
• Breadcrumbs in place of matzo meal outside Passover.

Variations

• Baked in a loaf tin and sliced, which is quicker.
• The Lithuanian style, peppery and without sugar.
• Poached in the fish skin, which is the oldest form and where the name comes from.

History

Ashkenazi Shabbat dish: deboning the fish in advance avoids the prohibited sorting of bones on Shabbat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gefilte fish?

Gefilte fish is a main from Israel: poached patties of minced carp or pike, served cold with horseradish. Ashkenazi Shabbat dish: deboning the fish in advance avoids the prohibited sorting of bones on Shabbat.

How long does Gefilte fish take to make?

Gefilte fish takes 45 min plus overnight chilling of preparation and 2 hr 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 12 patties. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Gefilte fish?

Yes, within limits. Any mild white fish, though the texture will be softer. Breadcrumbs in place of matzo meal outside Passover.

What is the most important thing to get right in Gefilte fish?

Do not reduce it to a paste. It should stay slightly coarse, because over-processed fish sets rubbery.