A Fish Story

WARNING: This post contains graphic content of the dissection of a fish. If you are squeamish or just don't like that kind of thing, you can read until my note below to stop.

Tonight we celebrate the Jewish New Year, and, like all things Jewish, we bring in the new year with style! That means songs, good company, wine, and lots and lots of food!

One of the traditional foods is gefilte fish (you can look it up here if you are unfamiliar with it). It's an acquired taste and is usually one of those things that you either hate or love. I really like it but discovered last year that the binder is matzah meal, which I can no longer eat. After much investigation online, I did find one brand that uses potato starch instead (yay!), but it was too late to order it and none of the local stores carry it. I was disappointed but thought I might try again at Passover when it is an even more common food.

On Sunday evening, when I went to The Arb with our friends, we discussed the GF GF problem (Ha! Get it? Gluten Free Gefilte Fish! Ok, I'm a dork.) as well as my friend's plan to make her mother's recipe for real gefilte fish. This is no small task and involves an entire fish, bones, skin, and head included. Most of us just get the pre-made jar or frozen version. So of course I was impressed! I asked her if I could come watch her make it and she agreed. Later that evening I received an email from her inviting me not only to watch, but to make my own GF gefilte fish! I couldn't pass up the opportunity, and, yes, had to bring my camera.

What ensued was the longest cooking process I have ever had the pleasure of participating in. We started cooking at 7pm and didn't finish until 2am! It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun - the company was fantastic.

Here's how it turned out!

And here is my lovely hostest, teacher, friend, and neighbor, Veronika:

Ok, this is where you should stop if you don't want to see the fish.


We started with two enormous carps.

Then we skinned them, keeping the skins whole so that we could later stuff them.

Veronika is a pro.

Once the meat was separate, we spent a long time checking for small bones. This was the most difficult and tedious part.

And then came the grinding!

Then we added eggs, bread (or, in my case, potato starch), salt and pepper, onions, sugar, and olive oil.

The next step involved peeling and slicing a lot of veggies. Beets, carrots, and more onions. Then we laid them in a large pan.

And it was time to stuff the fish.

We covered the fish with more vegetables, especially beets to give it color, as Veronika explained. And placed the bones alongside to add flavor to the broth.

We filled the pans with boiling water and put them both on the stove to cook. And yes, that clock does say 11:57pm.

Carp-eh diem.

Proud and tired cooks!
Photo credit: Freddy Rosenthal

The fish cooked for 2 hours while we watched a movie both of us had seen many, many times. I won't tell you which one, but I finally found someone who will watch it with me!

Around 2am, Veronika carried one of the incredibly heavy pans to my house where it cooled on the stove until this morning. It was still warm when I plated and refrigerated it. We'll be enjoying some of it tonight and more of it tomorrow - I can't wait to taste it!

Veronika, thank you so much for a wonderful night! You are truly a fantastic cook!

Shana Tova to everyone!