Gefilte Fish

I grew up in the days when there were no blenders or food processors and we didn't even have an electric beater.

For chopping we used hand-held blades with wooden handles and cooking and preparation was a lot more time consuming. We made the same mix of fish for both types of gefilte fish: chopped and fried. The only difference is that one is fried and the other poached in water.

In the old days we used a mixture of carp bream and any white fish, which we deboned and took turns chopping on the large wooden board until it was fine enough to form into patties.

Here is the Polish Litvak version, which I grew up with, and is savoury rather than sweet. You can increase the amount depending on how many guests or family members you have.

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo white filleted fish cut small enough to place in food processor
• 2 medium onions peeled and cut in half
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 tablespoons matza meal (very fine dry breadcrumbs if you don't have it)
• A little salt and black pepper

Directions:

• Make sure that the fish is fairly dry before processing or the mixture will be too wet and fall apart.
• Blend in batches with the onions seasoning and a little beaten egg.
• Mix well and form into patties coating in matza meal or very fine breadcrumbs.

For Poached Gefilte Fish:

• Poach patties in a pan of boiling water gently with some thinly sliced carrots. (In the old days we would poach with the fish bones as stock).
• Drain gently and cool placing in fridge when ready.
• Serve with a slice of carrot on top to decorate and always serve cold or at room temperature.

For Chopped and Fried Gefilte Fish:

• This version was always my favourite and could also be eaten hot.
• Simply fry the patties in a shallow pan with a fair amount of oil until golden brown and cooked right through.

Serving suggestions:
Serve the gefilte fish with 'chrane' in Yiddish and 'chazeret' in Hebrew (a red horseradish / beetroot sauce). The fried version is also great with HP Daddies sauce or tomato Ketchup, although some like it with chrane too!

Enjoy!!