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As the guests enjoyed their meal and a nice glass of whiskey, they requested that the in-house orchestra play on repeat, \u201cthis wonderful Russian Melody,\u201d the traditional song of Kol Nidre, a prayer that is recited on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.<\/p>\n
Oy vey.<\/p>\n
The visitors finished off their gourmet meal and left the restaurant after giving their complements to the chef – \u201cAuf Wiedersehn!\u201d<\/p>\n
It may seem strange to our modern sensibilities that a Jewish food as odd as gefilte fish would be available on a Warsaw restaurant menu in the first place, never mind that these particular guests would even order the dish.<\/p>\n
For those who are not familiar with the traditional food, gefilte fish is a dish typically made of a combination of several different fish that are ground up and shaped into croquettes before being cooked. The dish is traditionally served on Friday night in honor of Shabbat dinner with a side of chrein, <\/em>a dip made of horseradish and beets. The classic fish dish can be made in a salty or sweet preparation and, believe it or not, it is hotly debated which version is the proper dish. In fact, there is a defined \u201cGefitle fish line\u201d<\/a> that had been drawn through Jewish Eastern Europe on the salty\/sweet divide.<\/p>\n Born out of necessity in Europe, the preparation of gefilte fish was a way for impoverished Jewish families to stretch whatever piece of the pricey protein they could afford by adding onions, eggs, and matzoh meal. Gefilte, meaning \u201cstuffed\u201d in Yiddish, describes the method of preparation in which the skin was removed, and meat of the fish itself was ground up with the rest of the ingredients before the mixture was stuffed back into the skins in preparation for cooking.<\/p>\n Not only did this method help stretch a small portion of fish, it also remedied an issue in Jewish law faced by fish eaters on Shabbat. Borer, the prohibition against separating, prohibits the removal of bones from the flesh of the fish on Shabbat. By grinding up the fish together with the bones, there is no longer anything left to be picked out.<\/p>\n With the complicated process of preparing this traditional Jewish dish, there was a large market open to Jewish food companies to create an easier, more accessible version. In 1931, for the first time, the spicy goodness that is gefilte fish was \u201csuccessfully imprisoned in cans,\u201d by Ethel\u2019s Food Products Inc, with the Kosher seal of approval from a rabbi in Chicago. The exciting announcement promised a superior flavor to the homemade version and ensured the use of first grade materials processed on sanitary equipment.<\/p>\n Thus was born jarred jelly coated gefilte fish as you know it today (they come in cans as well). Kosher food companies vied for that coveted spot at the Shabbat table promising \u201cGefilte fish like your mother used make- only if your mother made great gefilte fish.\u201d<\/p>\n This Jewish delicacy- the epitome of Jewish soul food, is featured in Jewish art, books, and has several Yiddish folk songs written in its honor. One song, written sometime in the late 1800\u2019s, found itself featured on Israeli radio! The lyricist describes the wonderful texture and the melt in your mouth flavor that gefilte fish has to offer every Shabbat at your mother\u2019s table.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Shabbat-428x600.png\")
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