Gefilte Fish… unstuffed
Meredith inquires on the origins of gefilte fish. Though I don’t know anyone who calls it just “gefilte,” I thought we could all use a little background on this tasty aquatic treat.
Back in the old country, gefilte fish was made by removing the flesh from a fish while leaving the skin intact. The fish would be chopped, mixed with other ingredients, stuffed back into the skin, then cooked — hence, “gefilte,” or stuffed, fish.
Nowadays, we skip the restuffing, but you can restore the “fishy” heritage by trying this delightful fish pan available from Williams-Sonoma. To use: buy a frozen gefilte fish loaf (we like Unger’s) and defrost in the fridge. Grease the pan liberally with non-stick spray. Using a spatula, gingerly press blobs of raw fish into the mold and scrape off excess. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes, until the “fish” are puffed up slightly. If you greased enough, the fish should slide out of the pan with ease. Try serving with cocktail sauce.
That’s a nice idea :-) There’s an interesting halakhic issue here. Apparently the purpose of grinding and re-stuffing the fish was so that there wouldn’t be any bones and Jews eating it on Shabbat wouldn’t violate the halakhot of <em>borer</em>. Nowadays people seem pretty comfortable with the idea of taking fish bones out of your mouth instead of removing them from the fish ahead of time. Has something changed?
Jabbett-Congrats on another title- but you’d trade one of them for a World Series win, right? Or both?
Mmmm, World Series win… Patriots who?
On the flip side, I’ve heard much halakhic debate recently about the proper way to mix chreyn (horseradish) and mayonnaise. Do it wrong and — melakha! — youve just made paint. Or something along those lines.