Gefilte Fish.
Surprisingly didn’t start
out as a Jewish food. The first mention of gefuelten hechden (stuffed pike) was
in a German cookbook. By the Middle Ages, the German dish had migrated into the Jewish kitchen
under the name gefilte (stuffed) fish. It was from the off considered fish to
be the perfect food to kick off a Sabbath or holiday meal.
Despite all rammers, Gefilte Fish, do not swim in the sea with a carrot on its head, but are
created by the recipes below. Nothing is better than homemade Gefilta fish and
like all traditional recipes it is not complex!
The basic fish mixture makes approximately 40 patties, or 3
logs.
(I always make the fish balls and
logs in bulk as they freeze well.
Freeze before cooking and can be
cooked from frozen)
1 kilo white fish (cod, haddock,)
filleted & skinned but ask the fish monger for the fish bones, skin and
head
½ kilo oily fish traditionally carp,
but I use fresh mackerel, as above filleted and skinned - but set the bones
skin and ahead aside
3 large eggs beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 onions grated
A pinch of nutmeg
4-6 tablespoons of either matzo meal,
gluten free matzo meal, or ground almonds if no one eating has a nut allergy
For the fish stock
4 carrots peeled and sliced
6 celery stalks
2 large onions
The bones, skin, and head of fish
8 pepper corns
bay leaves
a teaspoon salt
4-6 stalks of fresh parsley
1. Take the fish skins, bones heads, rinse
them under cold water and place in a muslin, tie the muslin
2. In a large pot with a lid, place all
the vegetables, herbs and spices and the tied muslin filled with the fish add
about 2 litres of water, bring to the boil, lower the temperatures and simmer
for at least 30 minutes
3. You can freeze fish stock without the
bones and vegetable for up to six weeks.to be used at a later date
For the fish
If you are lucky enough to live near
a fishmonger with a mincer, ask them to mince the fish, otherwise put the fish
in a food processer, and pulse it till its chopped but not mushed. Transfer
into a large bowl I use a glass or steel one as its easier to ensure the smell
of fish is removed than it is on a plastic bowl
Chop the onion in the food processer (while
its out!) add to the bowl with the egg, seasoning matzo meal or almonds. mix
well but not harshly.
At this stage you can divide the
mixture into balls, into logs or set aside to fry or freeze.
For boiled Gefilta fish balls
Wet
your under the cold tap
Using
your hands, mould the fish mixture into a 3- by 2-inch oval patty (about 2
ounces) and gently place on a large plate
Repeat
with the remaining fish mixture, wetting your hands as needed.
Place
the patties in the fridge for 5 – 10 minutes to firm up
To
cook place in the patties in the boiling fish stock turn
down to simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Remove
with a slotted spoon place and place on a serving dish, let cool a bit take out one or two carrots from the stock
and slice and place on top of each patty. Serve with pickled beetroot, or coleslaw and of course chrain, some people like mayonnaise or mix the two and make chrainanaise !
For a log
Take
a large sheet of baking parchment, (around the size of a Swiss roll tin)
Take
a third of the mixture make it into a round sausage shape place on the
parchment paper, and roll the paper around it, wrap it tight, set in the fridge
for all least 30 minutes.
If
I am freezing the log, I place cling film all round the outside of the
parchment paper and freeze straight away.
To
cook
1.
Boiled Bring fish stock
to the boil , in a large pot remove the cling film from round the outside of
the log, keeping the baking parchment intact.
2. Place
the log into the stock, with two peeled carrots and bay leaves, reduce to a
simmer , place a lid on the pot and simmer from frozen for 60-75 minutes.
3. Leave
it in the stock to cool for 5-10 minutes.
4. Remove
with two slotted spoons, set on a dish remove the parchment paper.
5.
Slice into 8-10 equal portions, decorate
with carrot and serve as above.
The
advantage of the log you can save time rolling patties, it freezes well
Chopped and Fried ( or Fish balls by
any other name)
You will need 500 ml of unflavoured
vegetable oil.
The fish mixture as above
A deep frying pan that goes on the
stove top, or when I lived in Manchester and regularly fried fish balls, I had an
electric deep frying pan , an extension lead and set my self up a little table outside the
back door, because as appetizing as the smell of freshly fried fish balls to
stimulate the taste buds, the smell can linger in a home, and on your clothes ! ( I always
fry in an old dressing gown that goes straight into the wash and I jump in the
shower after frying !)
If you are using a stove top frying
pan, advise you to close the kitchen door, but open the kitchen windows or back
door start frying.
Take the fish mixture, as before wet
your hands and make the fish into balls, the size is personal choice, I like
two bite size ; if anyone remembers the Jewish luncheon club in Whitechapel London
that closed its doors in 1994 ,their chopped and fried balls were the size of
ostrich eggs!
Heat the oil.
Place the fish balls into the hot oil,
(if you are using an electric deep fat fryer don’t be tempted to use the basket
as the fish balls stick!)
Fry for 6-8 minutes in batches of 5
balls at a time
Take the fish balls out with a
slotted spoon and place on a try that you have covered with kitchen paper to
drain excess oil.
Resist the temptation to eat them as
the are fresh out the pan.
Fried fish balls can be stored in the
fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days or freeze and take out as you
need, they defrost quite quickly.
Also serve with Chrain, mayonnaise. Enjoy!
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