171, 177)īy the early 20th century, eastern European Jews had developed many recipes for what they now called gefilte fish. the really poor Jews in eastern Europe were offered cheap river fish, such as roach, tench, and chub, for the Sabbath, or even a piece of salted herring." In Germany, Jewish carp recipes appear in the late 18th and early 19th century - including a reference by Heinrich Heine to his aunt's Friday-night carp in brown raisin sauce. The carp was the traditional Jewish fish in eastern Europe: "it has been suggested that Jewish traders along the silk routes assisted in the dissemination of the carp throughout southern and eastern Europe. Modern Sephardic Jews in Turkey preserve some of these recipes. ![]() In the 16th century in Spain and Mexico, secretly-practicing Jews ate fish on Friday night in 1488, the Inquisition accused a Jewish woman of making fish pies for Sabbath - evidence of Judaizing. In the 13th century, a Sabbath song declared "without fish there is no Sabbath." Medieval Jews in Spain prepared holiday and Sabbath fish with egg-lemon sauce. 64-65)įish, especially minced fish, continued to appear in Jewish history. Removing fish bones was considered unacceptable "work." During Talmudic times, therefore, minced fish served in a pie became a common Friday night dinner choice. Second, fish was associated with fertility, "Jacob gave his children a blessing that they should multiply like fishes." Eating fish, however, conflicted with the commandment to rest on the Sabbath. First, based on traditions from Syria and from various mystery cults, fish was associated with the coming of the Messiah (a tradition later reflected by Christian symbolism). In this era, two reasons emerged to eat fish. In the aftermath of the fall of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, many of the Jewish customs for celebration of the Sabbath were established and documented in the Talmud and other commentaries. Under other names, though, Jewish minced fish has a much older history. Obviously the word "gefilte" (which means "filled" as in mincing the fish with bread or other starch and stuffing the preparation back in the skin) has a Yiddish or German origin. Searching for how this dish acquired its ritual status I did a bit of reading. Although minced fish balls may play a role in other cuisines (such as quenelles in France) the preparation is mainly unknown in American non-Jewish households, and elicits a very dubious response from the uninitiated. ![]() Gefilte fish is the paradigm of Jewish food, and among the observant, was traditional for Friday night Sabbath meals as well as holidays. Much more traditional than the recently introduced orange, which symbolizes women being equal in all respects. As symbolic as the matzo with charoset or the parsley dipped in salt water. I think of it as much in the list of ritual foods as its garnish of horseradish - symbol of the bitter lives of the Israelite slaves in Egypt. The jar from which I get the fish hasn't changed since my childhood, when my mother also served gefilte fish once a year for the Seder. And thus once a year, we eat gefilte fish. Once a year we have a Seder for Passover - it's coming up next week.
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