Quick Gefilte Fish That Tastes Homemade

Shortcuts Make Traditional Passover Dish a Snap to Fix

Apr 3, 2009 Katherine Spitz

Jewish cooks are getting ready for Passover, also known as eight days of special cooking with no leavened products. Time is at a premium. One traditional star of Passover is a dish called gefilte (gee-fill-tee) fish, balls of lightly seasoned fish that are simmered until cooked. The recipe is time consuming and messy to make. One trick is to quickly doctor up ready made, jarred fish to make it taste almost homemade.

Different Versions of Gefilte Fish

Gefilte fish long has been is a favorite dish of Jewish people from Russia, Germany, Poland, Austria , Hungary and the Ukraine. Depending on the culture, there is a preference for gefilte fish with a sweet flavor or seasoned with salt and pepper. Gefilte fish can be served cold, with horseradish, or even warm in a tomato sauce. On many Passover tables this year, gefilte fish will be served chilled with horseradish, and served repeatedly over the eight-day holiday, often with matzo crackers.

Modern Jewish Cooks Reject Traditional Recipe

Traditionally, cooks bought fresh fish - carp, whitefish, pike or a combination - skinned and cleaned them, then ground the fish with onions, carrots and eggs. Many modern Jewish cooks don't have time, nor inclination, to do this. The alternative is to buy ready made gefilte fish, which is sold in jars or cans in the specialty food aisles of many grocery stores. In cities with large Jewish populations, gefilte fish also is often sold in frozen rolls, which are then simmered until done. Both types of ready made versions miss that essential "made at home" taste. Also, the cook loses the emotional link to the generations of Jewish home cooks, who took pride, if not pleasure, in fussing with gefilte fish.

Here's a tested recipe for Doctored Up Gefilte Fish, adapted from a variety of gefilte fish recipes compiled by Noreen Gilletz.. It takes just a little work to do - but enough for the cook to say to approving crowds, "it's my secret."

Doctored Up Gefilte Fish

Ingredients:

• 1 jar of whitefish and pike gefilte fish, with liquid, not jell
• 2 carrots
• 1 fresh yellow onion
• 1 teaspoon of white sugar
• sprinkle of garlic powder (do not use fresh - too intense)
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• water
• romaine lettuce
• red horseradish, from jar

1. Gently lift whitefish/pike balls into saucepan, empty rest of liquid into sauce pan.
2. Add enough water to completely cover gefilte fish, adding enough water for an extra inch over the fish.
3. thinly slice carrot, add to saucepan
4. chop onion, add to saucepan
5. add powdered garlic, sugar, salt and pepper

After ingredients are in saucepan, bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer about 20 minutes. Take saucepan off heat, let fish cool for about 30 minutes, then remove fish and carrots from saucepan and put on serving platter that is lined with romaine lettuce. Arrange carrot slices on top of fish. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to two days. Serve with horseradish.

Another Timesaver: Passover cooks who need more time-saving recipes can try Slow Cooker Matzo Ball Soup