What Is Gefilte Fish? Plus 14 Modern Ways to Make it at Home

What is gefilte fish?

“Gefilte fish is a dish eaten by Central and Eastern European Jews of Ashkenazi descent,” explain Jeffery Moskowitz and Liz Alpern of Gefilteria, a pop-up restaurant and catering company that focuses on Jewish foods. “It’s a poached or baked appetizer of ground fish and spices that’s generally served cold and traditionally eaten on holidays and festivals.” The dish is especially popular during the Jewish holiday Passover, but can really be eaten any time of year. “‘Gefilte’ translates to ‘stuffed’ in Yiddish, and for centuries, it was actually a stuffed fish,” Alpern says. “The meat of the fish was removed. The fish fillets were ground up with spices, eggs, and breadcrumbs and stuffed back into the skin to cook.”

Eventually, this stuffing technique fell away—it’s pretty laborious—and now, people just eat the stuffing itself. These days, the dish usually contains a mixture of different types of fish like whitefish, carp, trout, and pike, along with some vegetables, eggs, and sometimes matzoh meal.

And though many families go for the store-bought version out of convenience, experts agree that it’s generally tastier—and healthier—when homemade. “If you make it homemade, you’ll enjoy all the health benefits of fish and you can control the fillers, which are used to bind the loaf or croquettes,” explains Jewish food and lifestyle expert Jamie Geller, also known as “The Queen of Kosher.” But sometimes, it’s just easier to grab something pre-made and dress it up at home. “When buying pre-made frozen or jarred gefilte fish be sure to look at the sugar, carbs and sodium count,” Geller advises. “Store-bought gefilte fish can essentially be the fish version of a hot dog.” As long as you choose carefully, you’ll be good to go.

The post What Is Gefilte Fish? Plus 14 Modern Ways to Make it at Home appeared first on Reader's Digest.