View source for Gefilte fish

{{Short description|Ashkenazi Jewish dish made from ground fish}}
{{use mdy dates|date= January 2023}}
{{use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Confuse|Gefillde}}
{{Infobox food
| name             = Gefilte fish
| image            = Gefilte fish topped with slices of carrot.jpg
| image_size       = 263px
| caption          = Gefilte fish topped with thin slices of carrot
| alternate_name   = 
| country          = 
| region           = Central and Eastern Europe, [[United States]], [[Israel]], [[Argentina]]
| creator          = [[Jewish cuisine|Ashkenazi Jewish]] communities
| course           = [[Hors d'oeuvre]]
| type             = 
| served           = 
| main_ingredient  = Ground fish, [[matzo meal]] (sometimes), eggs (sometimes)
| variations       = 
| calories         = 
| other            = 
}}
{{IPA notice}}
'''Gefilte fish''' ({{IPAc-en|ɡ|ə|ˈ|f|ɪ|l|t|ə|_|f|ɪ|ʃ}}; from {{langx|yi|געפֿילטע פֿיש}}, {{langx|de|Gefüllter Fisch / Gefüllte Fische}}, lit. "stuffed fish") is a dish made from a [[Poaching (cooking)|poached]] mixture of ground deboned fish, such as [[carp]], [[Whitefish (fisheries term)|whitefish]], or [[Esox|pike]]. It is traditionally served as an appetizer by [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi]] [[Jew]]ish households. Popular on [[Shabbat]] and [[Jewish holidays]] such as [[Passover]], it may be consumed throughout the year. It is typically garnished with a slice of cooked carrot on top.

Historically, gefilte fish was a stuffed whole fish consisting of minced-fish [[forcemeat]] stuffed inside the intact fish skin. By the 16th century, cooks had started omitting the labor-intensive stuffing step, and the seasoned fish was most commonly formed into [[Patty|patties]] similar to ''[[quenelle]]s'' or [[fish ball]]s.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Marks |author-first=Gil |author-link=Gil Marks |title=Encyclopedia of Jewish Food |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company]] |publication-place=New York City |df=mdy-all |year=2010 |url={{Google books |id=gFK_yx7Ps7cC |plainurl=yes}} |access-date=2021-10-21 |isbn=9780544186316}}</ref>

In [[Poland]], gefilte fish is referred to as {{lang|pl|karp po żydowsku}} ("carp Jewish-style").<ref name=PolishJochnowitz/>

==Origins==
Gefilte fish likely originated in non-Jewish, [[German cuisine|German cooking]]. The earliest historical reference to ''gefuelten hechden'' (stuffed pikes) comes from ''[[Das Buoch von guoter Spise|Daz Buoch von Guoter Spise]]'' (''The Book of Good Food''), a [[Middle High German]] cookbook dating to circa 1350 CE. ''Gefuelten hechden'' consisted of poached and mashed pike that was flavored with herbs and seeds, stuffed back inside the fish skin, and then roasted. This dish was popular with German Catholics during [[Lent]], when it is forbidden to eat meat. By the Middle Ages, stuffed fish had migrated into the cuisine of [[German Jews|German]] and [[Eastern European Jewry|Eastern European Jews]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/the-history-of-gefilte-fish/ |title=The History of Gefilte Fish |date=March 23, 2021 |publisher=MyJewishLearning.com |accessdate=2022-09-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tastingtable.com/987098/gefilte-fish-the-jewish-delicacy-with-medieval-origins/ |title=Gefilte Fish: The Jewish Delicacy With Medieval Origins |date=August 30, 2022 |publisher=[[Tasting Table]] |accessdate=2022-09-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.medievalcookery.com/etexts/buch.html |title=Ein Buch von guter spise |publisher=MedievalCookery.com |accessdate=2022-09-21}}</ref>

==Preparation and serving==
[[File:Gefilte fish - step 20 (Anschnitt 3).JPG|thumb|200px|left|Gefilte fish: whole stuffed and garnished fish with eggs]]
Gefilte fish was traditionally cooked inside the intact skin of a fish,<ref name=JTAfishnonmeat>{{cite web |website=JTA.org ([[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]])
   |url=https://www.jta.org/2021/04/07/food/the-secret-not-so-jewish-history-of-gefilte-fish
   |title=The secret not-so-Jewish history of gefilte fish
   |author=Rachel Ringler |date=April 7, 2021  |access-date=July 24, 2022}}</ref> forming a loaf which is then sliced into portions before serving. More commonly, it is now most often cooked and served as oval patties, like [[quenelle]]s. In the United Kingdom, gefilte fish is commonly fried.<ref>{{cite news |author-last=Kagan |author-first=Aaron |title=Gefilte Fish, Fried to Perfection |work=[[The Forward]] |publisher=The Forward Association, Inc. |df=mdy-all |date=2009-03-11 |url=https://forward.com/food/103824/gefilte-fish-fried-to-perfection/ |access-date=2021-10-21}}</ref> Gefilte fish is typically garnished with a slice of carrot on top, and a [[horseradish]] mixture called [[chrain]] on the side.

To make the modernized "gefilte fish" fish balls, [[fish fillet]]s are ground and mixed with eggs (some recipes exclude eggs), breadcrumbs or [[matza]] crumbs, spices, salt, onions, carrots, and sometimes potatoes, to produce a paste or dough which is then simmered in [[fish stock (food)|fish stock]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Попова |first=Марта Федоровна
  |title=Секреты Одесской кухни |publisher=Друк |location=Одесса
  |date=2004 |page=163 |language=ru |isbn = 966-8149-36-X}} [{{cite book |last=Popova |first=Marta
|title=Secrets of Odessa Cuisine |publisher=Druk |location=Odessa |date=2004 |page=163 |language=Russian |isbn=9789668149368}}]</ref>

[[Carp]], [[Esox|pike]], [[Mullet (fish)|mullet]], or [[Coregonus|whitefish]] are commonly used to make gefilte fish; more recently, [[Nile perch]] and [[Salmon as food|salmon]] are also used, with gefilte fish made from salmon having a slightly pink hue.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Salmon Gefilte Fish [recipe] |magazine=[[Sunset (magazine)|Sunset]]
  |publisher=Sunset Publishing Corporation |url=https://www.sunset.com/recipe/salmon-gefilte-fish |df=mdy-all
  |access-date=October 22, 2021
  |quote=Instead of the traditional whitefish, this gefilte fish is made with salmon and a Western white-flesh fish, giving it a pretty ''pale pink color'' and rich flavor. [Italics added.]}}</ref> [[Catfish]] is not used, however, because it is not [[Kashrut|kosher]].<ref>{{cite news
    |author-last=Greenblatt |author-first=Jacob |title=Non-Kosher Gefilte Fish?
    |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |department=Letters |at=Section C, Page 4
    |df=mdy-all |date=March 13, 1992
    |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/13/garden/l-non-kosher-gefilte-fish-075492.html
    |access-date=October 21, 2021
    |quote=All segments of Judaism consider catfish a non-kosher fish, as the Torah explicitly proscribes fish that do not have both fins and scales.}}</ref>

==Sweet and savory versions==
Gefilte fish may be slightly sweet or [[Umami|savory]]. Different preparations and taste preferences may be a proxy for reflecting Ashkenazi Jews' specific ancestral origins in Europe. The preference for sweet gefilte with sugar was popular among [[Galician Jews]] from central Europe, while gefilte fish with [[black pepper]] was preferred by the more northern [[Lithuanian Jews|Litvak Jews]]. The boundary separating the two camps was dubbed "the Gefilte Fish Line" by Yiddish linguist [[Marvin Herzog]] in the mid-1960s.<ref>{{cite news |author=Unknown |title=This is no fish tale: Gefilte tastes tell story of ancestry |newspaper=[[J. The Jewish News of Northern California]] |publisher=San Francisco Jewish Community Publications Inc. |via=[[dateline]], Toronto |df=mdy-all |date=1999-09-10 |url= https://www.jweekly.com/1999/09/10/this-is-no-fish-tale-gefilte-tastes-tell-story-of-ancestry/ |access-date=2021-10-21}}</ref><ref name="sweet-savoury">{{cite news |author-last=Prichep |author-first=Deena |title=The Gefilte Fish Line: A Sweet And Salty History Of Jewish Identity |work=[[NPR]] |publisher=National Public Radio, Inc. |df=mdy-all |date=2014-09-24 |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/09/24/351185646/the-gefilte-fish-line-a-sweet-and-salty-history-of-jewish-identity |access-date=2021-10-21}}</ref>

Sweet gefilte fish with sugar in Galicia can be traced to the turn of the 19th century, when the first [[sugar beet]] factory opened in southern Poland. The sugar industry, which involved many Jews, grew rapidly, and sugar was included in many foods in the region. Culinary historian [[Gil Marks]] quipped that, '"Other Jews had savory [[noodle kugel]]s. You didn't have sweet challah. The idea of putting sugar into anything else was absurd." But Polish Jews began to put sugar into all of these dishes. Previously peppery kugels. The now-sweet-and-sour stuffed cabbage. And gefilte fish.'<ref name="sweet-savoury"/>

==Ready-to-serve==
[[File:Jars of gefilte fish.jpg|thumb|Jars of gefilte fish in Israel]]
The late 1930s brought a brand named Mother's from "Sidney Leibner, the son of a fish store owner."<ref name=JTAfishnonmeat/> This ready-to-serve fish was followed by "[[Manischewitz]], Mrs. Adler’s, Rokeach and others."

The post-WWII method of making gefilte fish commercially takes the form of patties or balls, or utilizes a [[wax paper]] casing around a "log" of ground fish, which is then poached or baked. This product is sold in cans and glass jars, and packed in jelly made from fish broth, or the fish broth itself. The [[sodium]] content is relatively high at 220–290&nbsp;mg/serving. Low-salt, low-carbohydrate, low-cholesterol, and sugar-free varieties are available. The patent for this jelly, which allowed mass-market distribution of gefilte fish, was granted on October 29, 1963, to [[Monroe Nash]] and Erich G. Freudenstein.<ref>{{US patent reference |number=3108882 |issue-date=October 29, 1963 |inventor=[[Monroe Nash]] and Erich G Freudenstein |title=Method of preparing an edible fish product}} (EPO). See also: {{US patent|src=uspto|3108882|US3108882}} (USPTO), and {{US patent|3108882}} (Google). Retrieved October 21, 2021.</ref> 

Gefilte fish has been described as "an acquired taste".<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Los Angeles Times]]
  |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-24-vl-37870-story.html
  |title=Shoptalk : Szechuan-Style Duck Sauce Is Hot and Spicy
  |date=March 24, 1994}}</ref>

Grocery stores also sell frozen "logs" of gefilte fish.<ref name=JTAfishnonmeat/>

==Religious customs and considerations==

===Jewish===
Among religiously observant Jews, gefilte fish has become a traditional Shabbat food to avoid ''borer'', which is one of the 39 [[activities prohibited on Shabbat]] outlined in the [[Shulchan Aruch]]. ''Borer'', literally "selection/choosing", would occur when one picks the bones out of the fish, taking "the chaff from within the food".<ref name="fortunes">{{cite web
   |author-last=Blech |author-first=Rabbi Zushe |title=The Fortunes of a Fish |website=Kashrut.com 
  |publisher=Scharf Associates |df=mdy-all 
  |archive-date=2016-03-22 |url=http://mk.ca/newsletter7/vol1iss7.html
  |url-status=dead
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322035537/http://mk.ca/newsletter7/vol1iss7.html/ 
 |access-date=2021-10-22 }} (Originally published at: MK Vaad News & Views, ''Newsletter'', volume 1, number 7 (no longer exists at original site, MK.ca).)</ref>

A less common belief is that fish are not subject to ''ayin ra'a'' ("[[evil eye]]") because they are submerged while alive, so that a dish prepared from several fish varieties brings good luck. Moreover, because submersion in the water protects the fish from the evil eye, in the Middle East, fish "became popular for amulets and miscellaneous good luck charms. In Eastern Europe, it even became a name, Fishel, an optimistic reflection that the boy would be lucky and protected."<ref name=fishy>{{cite web
   |author-last=Marks |author-first=Gil |author-link=Gil Marks
   |title=Something's Fishy in the State of Israel
  |website=[[Orthodox Union|OrthodoxUnion.org]] (OU.org)
 |url=http://www.ou.org/shabbat/recipes/fish.htm |url-status=dead 
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020401221722/http://www.ou.org/shabbat/recipes/fish.htm |df=mdy-all |archive-date=2002-04-01 |access-date=2021-10-22}}</ref>

Gefilte fish is often eaten on the Sabbath. However, on Sabbath, separating bones from meat, as well as cooking, are forbidden by rabbinical law. So usually, the dish is prepared the day before and served cold or at room temperature.<ref name=fishy/> With gefilte fish being a Sabbath dinner staple, and the commandment in Genesis for fish to be "fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas",<ref name=fishy/> fish at Sabbath meals took on the patina of an aphrodisiac, the sages believing that "the intoxicating [fish] odor on the Sabbath table would encourage couples to 'be fruitful and multiply'—which in Jewish tradition is encouraged on Friday night."<ref name=tweel>{{cite web
  |author-last=Tweel |author-first=Tamara Mann
  |title=Gefilte Fish in America: A history of the Jewish fish product.
  |website=My Jewish Learning |publisher=[[70 Faces Media]] |date=n.d. 
 |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/gefilte-fish-in-america/ 
 |df=mdy-all |access-date=2021-10-22}}</ref> Moreover, ''dag'', the Hebrew word for fish, has the [[Hebrew numerology|numerical value]] of seven, the day of the Sabbath, further underscoring the serving of fish on that day.<ref name=tweel/> However, since Jewish law forbids the separating of the flesh of fish from its bones,<ref name="fortunes"/> pre-made fish cakes such as gefilte fish obviate the need to perform such separation, thus making a preparation such as gefilte fish a regular Sabbath staple, and the perfect vehicle for the requisite fish aphrodisiac.<ref name=fishy/><ref name=tweel/>

===Catholic===
In [[Catholic Church in Poland|Polish Catholic]] homes (more commonly in the northern regions near the [[Baltic Sea]]), gefilte fish ({{langx|pl|karp po żydowsku}}) is a traditional dish to be eaten on [[Christmas Eve]] (for [[Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper|twelve-dish supper]]) and [[Holy Saturday]], as these are traditionally meatless feasts.<ref name=PolishJochnowitz/> This follows a pattern in which a number of Jewish non-meat dishes were also eaten on Catholic religious days in Poland.<ref name=PolishJochnowitz>{{cite book |title=Culinary Tourism |editor-first=Lucy M.|editor-last=Long |publisher=[[The University Press of Kentucky]] |publication-place=Lexington, Ky |year=1998 |chapter=Chapter 4: Flavors of Memory: Jewish Food as Culinary Tourism in Poland |first=Eve |last=Jochnowitz |pages=97–113 |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/34110320 |url={{Google books |id=8WkumSPd7acC |plainurl=yes}} |df=mdy-all |access-date=2021-10-21 |quote=In the public imagination of both Americans and Poles, it is frequently gefilte fish—particularly sweetened gefilte fish—that has outdistanced matzoh as the food that first comes to mind when Jewish food is discussed (Cooper 1993; dc Pomianc 1985). Gefilte fish is sometimes referred to as {{lang|pl|karp po żydowsku}} or "Jewish carp,  ... Many restaurants in Cracow and Warsaw that are in no other way marked as Jewish offer {{lang|pl|karp po żydowsku}} as either an appetizer or a main course. Stranger still, {{lang|pl|karp po żydowsku}} has become a traditional dish in many Catholic Polish homes for Christmas Eve and Holy Saturday, traditionally meatless feasts. (p. 109) |isbn=9780813126395}} Also published as: {{cite journal |author-last=Jochnowitz |author-first=Eve |title=Flavors of Memory: Jewish Food as Culinary Tourism in Poland |journal=Southern Folklore |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=224–237 |issn=0899-594X |df=mdy-all |date=1998-01-01 
|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1311641274 |access-date=2021-10-21|id={{ProQuest|1311641274}} }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Food|Judaism}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Fishcake]]
* [[Polish cuisine]]
* [[Israeli cuisine]]
* [[Jewish cuisine]]
* [[Kamaboko]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Kirshenblatt-Gimblett |author-first=Barbara |author-link=Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett |editor-last=Hundert |editor-first=Gershon David |editor-link=Gershon David Hundert |title=Food and Drink |entry=Culinary Repertoire |encyclopedia=[[The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe]] |year=2008 |publisher=[[YIVO Institute for Jewish Research]] |url=https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Food_and_Drink |entry-url=https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Food_and_Drink#id0eh3ag |df=mdy-all |access-date=2021-10-22}} In print, see {{cite book |author-last=Kirshenblatt-Gimblett |author-first=Barbara |author-link=Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett |editor-last=Hundert |editor-first=Gershon David |editor-link=Gershon David Hundert |chapter=Food and Drink |chapter-url={{Google books |id=OL9tAAAAMAAJ |pg=PA532 |plainurl=yes}} |title=The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |publication-place=New Haven |year=2008 |page=532 |url={{Google books |id=OL9tAAAAMAAJ |plainurl=yes}} |isbn=9780300119039}}
* {{cite web |author-last=Tweel |author-first=Tamara Mann |title=Gefilte Fish in America: A history of the Jewish fish product. |website=My Jewish Learning |publisher=[[70 Faces Media]] |date=n.d. |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/gefilte-fish-in-america/ |df=mdy-all |access-date=2021-10-22}}
* Claudia Roden: [http://jhom.com/topics/fish/gefilte.html "Gefilte Fish and the Jews"]. ''Jewish Heritage Online Magazine''
* Haym Soloveitchik: [https://traditiononline.org/rupture-and-reconstruction-the-transformation-of-contemporary-orthodoxy/ "Rupture and Reconstruction. The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy"] (PDF and HTML). In: ''Tradition'', Vol. 28, No. 4 (Summer 1994).

{{Shabbat}}
{{Jewish baked goods}}
{{Christmas}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gefilte Fish}}
[[Category:Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine]]
[[Category:Carp]]
[[Category:Christmas food]]
[[Category:Esox]]
[[Category:German cuisine]]
[[Category:Jewish culture]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Europe]]
[[Category:Polish cuisine]]
[[Category:Salmonidae]]
[[Category:Shabbat food]]
[[Category:Yiddish words and phrases]]
[[Category:Stuffed dishes]]