gefilte fish?

[susieqz]

on nevadaed's horseradish thread, we had a little bit of thread drift n there was talk of gefilte fish.
i had read about it but never tasted it.
my curiosity was piqued, so i ordered some.
got it today n it's pretty good, but strange.
i'm unsure what to serve this with.
i could serve it cold, or even deep fry it.
but, the net doesn't talk much about how to make a dinner of it.

if i want it as a main course, what do i serve with it?

 

[Rpg]

I’ve had it primarily as a side dish served cold at Seder Passover dinners.

Let us know how you prepare it and how it is.

 

[Bullseye 2620]

Chilled, or at room temperature. With horseradish on the side. That's how it is served traditionally.

I have taken a couple of pieces, pressed them sorta flat, put them between two pieces of rye bread, and eaten them as a sammich with some tomato slices, lettuce, and Dijon mustard, but that is as adventuresome as I've ever gotten.

Deep fried? Wow!

 

[GaryS]

Like revenge, Gefilte Fish is best served cold. I've never had it, but my father used to love it and I know a lot of people who think it's great.

It is generally served before the chicken soup at the Seder.

If you like that, you might want to try Borscht. That's cold beet soup. Again, not something I like, but my father grew up on the stuff. As I recall, he liked sour cream in his.

Carey Grant liked his with a raw egg in it. You'll have to be a hard core Carey Grant fan to get that reference.

 

[bamabiker]

This is too strange.
One of my temps brought a jar of this stuff to work today. He did some work at a local church and to thank him they gave him a box of food from their food bank. This jar was in the box.
He had never heard of it and wanted to know if we had.
Only one guy knew what it is but none had ever tried it. They still haven't.
Looked like a patty of regurgitated fish fillet floating in juice with carrots and onions. No thanks.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

I have eaten it.
I have eaten Survival Kit Food that was better.

 

[susieqz]

it seems to be just pressed fish, like in fish sticks, jarred in stock.
bama, you shoulda tried it. it's pretty good.
or. some is. i ordered the brand the guys suggested
n it's good right from the jar.
i might make blintzes to go with.
i was prepared to feed it to the cats, but i like it too much.

 

[Golddollar]

I like it with Pape's Horseradish from Punxsutawney on it. Gives it a good kick.

 

[Frank46]

Haven't had any of that in a long time. No one in the house likes it but me. Wish I could say the same about peanut butter. 6 pound can lasts about two weeks. Albertson's down here used to carry a lot of foods for the different Jewish holidays the fish being one of them. How about Halvah? used to love it but being a type 2 diabetic kinda put the kibosh to a lot of stuff I loved to eat. Used to eat it right out of the jar. And Kiske which is a mixture of ground up potatoes,carrots and other stuff not good for you. Very greasy but darn it was good. Frank

 

[Andy Lowry]

Definitely best cold. For a side dish, stick with the ethnic genre and do up some latkes.

 

[Old cop]

I also grew up with this and still enjoy it served cold with horseradish.

 

[GaryS]

Kiskie is kosher sausage, for lack of a better term. The casings are artificial now, but as with other sausage once upon a time were made from the outer liners of the intestines.

Most of the "ethnic" foods that people like were originally "poor people" foods made from the leavings of the rich folks.

That includes ribs, brisket, chicken wings, tongue, brain, and other "delicacies".

Haven't had any of that in a long time. No one in the house likes it but me. Wish I could say the same about peanut butter. 6 pound can lasts about two weeks. Albertson's down here used to carry a lot of foods for the different Jewish holidays the fish being one of them. How about Halvah? used to love it but being a type 2 diabetic kinda put the kibosh to a lot of stuff I loved to eat. Used to eat it right out of the jar. And Kiske which is a mixture of ground up potatoes,carrots and other stuff not good for you. Very greasy but darn it was good. Frank

 

[sar4937]

How does gifilte fish differ from pickled herring in a jar?

 

[DWalt]

What's that fish that the Scandinavians like that everyone says it tastes like it's rotten. I think it's pickled in lye.

 

[Bullseye 2620]

How does gifilte fish differ from pickled herring in a jar?

Gefilte fish is ground pike and/or whitefish and/or carp that is mixed with eggs and matzoh meal to form oblong, kinda football shaped pieces about 3 inches long. These are poached until the fish is cooked and the piece has a firm, but soft, not chewy, consistency. Garlic, pepper, and other spices are added before cooking. After boiling it is chilled or served at room temperature. It sounds disgusting, but it is mild and tasty. See: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VKAtSAnv1yU/S7LZ9DXXMPI/AAAAAAAABgY/YSrT50tUVeI/s1600/blogger043.JPG.

Pickled herring is herring filets that have been pickled in vinegar, spices, garlic, and so forth. The pickling process "cooks" the herring so it is not raw. You usually see it either in a vinegar sauce or in a sour cream sauce. Both usually also have pickled thin slices of onion added.

What's that fish that the Scandinavians like that everyone says it tastes like it's rotten. I think it's pickled in lye.

You're speaking of lutefisk. It's dried cod that has been soaked in a lye solution for several days to rehydrate it. It is rinsed with cold water to remove the lye, then boiled or baked, and then served with butter, salt, and pepper.

The finished lutefisk usually is the consistency of Jello.

 

[sar4937]

Thank You.

 

[Marshwheeling]

The Fisk at the bottom of the barrel is like fish jello. From the top, and prepared well, lutefisk is still recognizable as fish. I noticed the difference one October over at Our Savior in Beldenville. While dining on fish jello, I noticed the pastor was getting some firm, highly representational filets. I said something, and the next year our Fisk looked a lot better.

I have been to a few seders, but never been served gefiltefish. I am surprised my pop never served it at home, as he used to shop a lot at the local kosher delis. I would expect it to be a taste more easily acquired than lutefisk. I have also enjoyed a couple of styles of salt fish at Chinese restaurants, so I would not expect gefilte fish to present much of a challenge.

 

[susieqz]

this stuff really does go well with horseradish.
had some on ritz crackers.it was pricey but worth it.
i guess it's first course kinda thing.
it's not a salt fish, nor a pickled fish.

 

[DWalt]

Makes sense that Lutefisk would be like Jello. The lye would saponify the fats remaining in the fish flesh producing something like soap. I didn't know that it began as dried fish.

 

[shouldazagged]

I'm not Jewish but I love gefilte fish, as long as it isn't the sweet variety.

I can't remember if it's the Ashkenazi or Sephardim who sweeten it, but that ruins it for me.

As for pickled herring, I could make a meal of the kind in sour cream. And blintzes, and latkes, and matzo ball soup--hell I probably should have been born Jewish.