Serve with horseradish on the side.īaking desserts can be somewhat of a challenge during Passover because the use of wheat rising flour and leavening agents is not allowed. Remove with a slotted spoon into a storage container and cover with some broth. Add the cold water and mix well.įorm into oval-shaped balls with about ¼ cup of fish mixture and drop carefully into a pot of simmering fish or vegetable stock on medium low.

Beat the eggs, then add the sugar, salt, lemon juice, pepper and matzo meal, mix together well, then add to the fish and vegetable mixture. Add the chopped vegetables and blend well. You can also dilute with water and add some kosher-for-Passover white wine.Ģ½ pounds of ground white fish (usually a combination of sole, halibut, snapper and black cod)īlend all the fish well. If it didn’t hit him hard in his sinuses, it wasn’t hot enough.įirst prepare a fish broth from scratch or make it easy on yourself by using already prepared boxed fish or vegetable stock, enough to adequately poach by filling the cooking pot up to at least half full. He always topped off each and every bite with the hottest horseradish that he could find. I felt my father’s pleasure in preparing his gefilte fish, which equaled his pleasure in eating it. Always using his special wooden bowl, he would chop and chop, then chop some more, obviously enjoying the whole creative process. He would begin by thoroughly chopping the onions and then combining different white fish. I have wonderful and cherished memories of watching my father prepare gefilte fish. Others have simply outgrown their aversion. Perhaps they got turned off from the store-bought kind out of a jar, or are unable to trust that anything poached for 1½ hours in smelly fish broth could possibly come out tasting good. There are some adults who still refuse to give gefilte fish another chance. In fact, I’m pretty sure that I firmly passed on eating this entire course altogether when I was a little girl.

Gefilte fish is typically served chilled, before the main course and accompanied with a side of horseradish: a scary condiment, particularly for a child, requiring an act of bravery to even taste. As a child, I wasn’t able to appreciate the time, effort and love that went into making these oval or round-shaped fish balls. I can’t recall a Passover meal when a European-Jewish dish called gefilte fish wasn’t served.

Gefilte fish passover