(For those of you who are just joining this
story in progress,page down to read Parts 1 & 2
before continuing with Part 3.)
"Ever since then, I’ve made gefilte fish for Passover,” Nana Lena stood at the counter, up to her elbows in fish mush, as she formed the balls and dropped them into the bubbling liquid. “Not so big. Like this.” She showed me her fish balls, smooth and uniform, about the size of a golf ball. I make them round, you see. But sometimes people make them like this.” She reshaped the ball in a few strokes into a more oval shape. “Boat shaped.”
“I’m not very good at this, Nana.”
“You just need practice. Yes, that’s much better. See.”
“You’re not just saying that?”
Nana Lena smiled and wisely did not answer.
“It seems like an awful lot of trouble to me.”
“It’s a lot easier now. You can buy fresh fish without having to kill it yourself. Sometimes you can even get the butcher to grind it up for you. If you do it yourself, you know what you’ve got. Remember that, write that down. I am telling you important things.”
“Yes, Nana.”
“I love you, my Amele.”
“I love you too, Nana. But the jarred fish is good enough, and it’s a lot less work.”
“Good enough? Yes, I suppose it is good enough…for a stranger, perhaps. Good enough, when there is no time for anything else. But the way I look at it…is it good enough for my family? Is it the healthiest, freshest gefilte fish I can make? Is it as filled with love? Then…it’s good enough, farshtéyst?”
I looked at my Nana, who, at seventy-five, had to be the wisest person on earth, dropping her little balls of love into the bubbling waters of life, and I nodded.
“Yes, Nana, I understand.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Gefilte Fish
This is a loose translation of Nana’s fish recipe. It’s a lot of work, and requires a fish grinder, a tool not found in every modern kitchen. You can use a food processor with a chopping blade if you don’t have a fish gringer. Nana didn’t measure; she did everything by touch and taste. All I can say is that if you are brave enough to make this recipe, “Ess gezundhayt”: “Eat it in good health!” And invite a lot of people. This recipe feeds 20–30 people.
Fish
Ask the nice man at the fish counter to filet 20 lbs of Rockfish, Trout and Pike. This yields about 9–10 pounds of fish meat. Keep the heads and bones, and scrape the remaining meat from the bones. (Don’t be wasteful! This can yield up to another pound.) The fish heads will be used to prepare the stock and give it a strong flavor. If you aren’t making the fish the same day, you can buy it in advance and freeze it, separating the fish filets between pieces of waxed paper. Make sure the fish is completely defrosted before grinding.
Stock
Fill a large 5-gallon pot about 2/3 full with water. While you are waiting for it to boil, add the following ingredients and let them simmer for about 1/2 hour.
2 onions, cut up, including skins
3 fish heads
3 stalks celery
4–5 carrots, peeled and cut into thick chunks
salt and white pepper to taste
Skim off the brown foam that accumulates on the top of the water. After broth has achieved golden brown color, remove the carrots and set aside for later. Carefully remove the fish heads, and strain all remaining items from the broth, twice. Return the clear broth to the large pot and bring to a boil.
Fish Mixture
3–4 onions (no skins!) a dozen eggs
2–3 stalks celery (peeled) 2 cups water
fish filets from above, and bits salt and white pepper
of fish culled from the bones. matzo meal
Before you begin to grind the fish, check one more time for bones and bits of skin. Rinse each piece and squeeze off the excess water with your hands. Set up your grinder. Nana Lena had the oldfashioned kind you clamped onto the kitchen counter, the kind you could take apart and clean thoroughly before and after making the fish. You’ll need a large mixing bowl positioned under the grinder, and a small pushing tool. Alternate inserting the three types of fish with pieces of onions and celery until all the fish has been ground. Mix it well so that there are no dark areas or white areas, just a uniform mixture of fish, onions, and celery. Beat up a dozen eggs in the blender. It makes them fluffier this way. Alternate adding the eggs and the water to the fish mixture.
Mix thoroughly. Salt and pepper to taste.
Now add 1/2 cup of matzo meal and mix well. Keep adding a little at a time until you feel that the fish is firm enough to shape into balls. Nana would pick up a handful, shape it into a ball, and, if it were too runny, she’d add a little more matzo meal until it was right. Somewhere between 1 and 2 cups, you will find the right texture.
Shape a golf-ball-sized “tester” and drop it into the boiling stock. If you see a flake or two rise to the top, that’s okay, but if you see the ball break up into several parts, then you don’t have enough matzo meal. Keep a dish of water handy to dip your hands in between balls. Drop the balls in one at a time. At first they will fall to the bottom, but eventually they will rise to the surface. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 2 1/2–3 hours. Shake the pot from time to time so that the balls don’t stick.
Carefully remove the gefilte fish from the broth with a slotted spoon. Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator. Serve chilled with a slice of carrot and a sprig of parsley on top, and a dollop of horseradish on the side.
* * * * * *
Happy Passover ya'll. Post a comment to let me know how it turns out.
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