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OT: I'm curious if any board members are fans of Gefilte Fish.

Homemade is better than jarred.

I hated the smell of herring as a kid, but I finally tried it about 10 years ago and really love it now.

I won't go near stuffed derma. (I had a very large aunt Irma when I was growing up and referred to her as Stuffed Irma.)

Kishke! Great stuff. Best are the ones fished out from a good Shabbos cholent.
 
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I like to try just about anything. It can’t be any worse that the sea cucumber that I was fed in China… virtually the only thing I would never eat again.

This is true. Sea cucumber has it beat by a mile when it comes to awful.

Gefilte fish isn't awful, it's so-so. More often than not, it's flavor is overwhelmed by the red horseradish sauce that is a de rigueur accompaniment. If you're going to take the plunge, opt for the Litvisch version (prepared with black pepper) as opposed to the Glatizianer (heavy on sugar).

In fact, if you've ever had karp po zydowsku in a Polish household on Christmas Eve, you've pretty much had the experience.
 
In fact, if you've ever had karp po zydowsku in a Polish household on Christmas Eve, you've pretty much had the experience.
I’ve never had any type of carp. I grew up fishing with my dad and he told me the way to cook carp was to cook it on a cedar plank. Throw away the carp and eat the cedar plank.
 
Skip it, it sucks.

@83wuzme

LOL....my Jewish son-in-law, whom I love very much, wont eat it.

When we were young (1961), growing up in Edwardsville, PA, we would walk to the Susquehanna River and either shoot river carp from the train trestles or during the Jewish celebrations catch carp and sell at a modest price to those that used the fish in their meals.
 
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A lot of ethic foods of all origins are acquired tastes. They often start as the foods poor people ate, and the real talent is to take something very cheap (carp, liver, pigs feet, kidneys, etc.) and turn it into something tasty and nutritious. These foods follow the cultures as they migrate around the world and many become delicacies over time. If you’re an adventurous eater you can discover many new good dishes and recipes for these foods to work into your meal rotation. Keep an open mind and give things a try.
 
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@83wuzme

LOL....my Jewish son-in-law, whom I love very much, wont eat it.

When we were young (1961), growing up in Edwardsville, PA, we would walk to the Susquehanna River and either shoot river carp from the train trestles or during the Jewish celebrations catch carp and sell at a modest price to those that used the fish in their meals.
My Mom, z"l, was ambivalent towards it (had to be her Sephardic half). Yet, every year before Passover, she'd haul herself to the Diamond Market dahntahn to get her fish, take it home and laboriously pick out the small bones that the fishmonger overlooked, hand grind it, combine it with the other ingredients (she was from the black pepper, not sugar, school), form it into oblong patties, and cook it.

Why?

 
I’m my mother’s youth in Philadelphia the markets sold their fish alive out of a tank to guarantee freshness. You would also buy live chickens at the market. Many women shopped everyday to always have the freshest ingredients. And of course the breads were always freshly baked. You never needed preservatives although pickled dishes and smoked fishes or corned meats could last a while from the salt used in the curing. Things sure have changed over time.
 
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My Mom, z"l, was ambivalent towards it (had to be her Sephardic half). Yet, every year before Passover, she'd haul herself to the Diamond Market dahntahn to get her fish, take it home and laboriously pick out the small bones that the fishmonger overlooked, hand grind it, combine it with the other ingredients (she was from the black pepper, not sugar, school), form it into oblong patties, and cook it.

Why?

After WWII, my father spent 25 yrs in the Air Force, and 21 yrs as an aerial photographer stationed at various SAC air bases around the country. I absolutely f'n hated the constant relocations and my Slovak grandparents agreed to nest me at their place in Edwardsville, PA., my grandparents essentially raised me from childhood thru high school.

Slovak Tradition....great foods, great memories of celebrating mass & Holy Days.
Fortunately, my grandmother taught my wife Slovak traditional meals. My wife's potato pancakes & perogies are terrific. The potato pancakes are very thin (1/4") with lacy edges and the perogies have thin enough dough to bring out the flavor of the stuffing. She makes Easter cheese (cirak), bobalki, she use to make me calves hearts (my grandmother's red sauce recipe), deviates from original piggy
(halupki) recipe with a red sauce. My grandmother's pagach was very thin and buttery on both sides, that one slipped by my wife's talents. Boy, i'd love to have that again. in closing....TRADITION whether you eat it or not
 
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After WWII, my father spent 25 yrs in the Air Force, and 21 yrs as an aerial photographer stationed at various SAC air bases around the country. I absolutely f'n hated the constant relocations and my Slovak grandparents agreed to nest me at their place in Edwardsville, PA., my grandparents essentially raised me from childhood thru high school.

Slovak Tradition....great foods, great memories of celebrating mass & Holy Days.
Fortunately, my grandmother taught my wife Slovak traditional meals. My wife's potato pancakes & perogies are terrific. The potato pancakes are very thin (1/4") with lacy edges and the perogies have thin enough dough to bring out the flavor of the stuffing. She makes Easter cheese (cirak), bobalki, she use to make me calves hearts (my grandmother's red sauce recipe), deviates from original piggy
(halupki) recipe with a red sauce. My grandmother's pagach was very thin and buttery on both sides, that one slipped by my wife's talents. Boy, i'd love to have that again. in closing....TRADITION whether you eat it or not
Thanks for mentioning pagach. I love it and miss it. I'll pull out our church Russian cookbook and shoot a copy of recipes for you tomorrow. As she got older my mom used hot roll mix for the crust and it was nice and thin. I believe the filling was a 50/50 mix of potatoes and longhorn cheese
 
Thanks for mentioning pagach. I love it and miss it. I'll pull out our church Russian cookbook and shoot a copy of recipes for you tomorrow. As she got older my mom used hot roll mix for the crust and it was nice and thin. I believe the filling was a 50/50 mix of potatoes and longhorn cheese
Thank you 81b&w, if it's not too much trouble my wife and sister-in-law would like to give it a go. I'm speaking for them, of course. They'll make the pagach.
 
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No, bacalao tastes like the cioppino we make in our family but saltier. We use cod as well but not salted.
What? Salt cod is completely different from fresh cod. Much saltier and firmer texture. It lasts forever in its dried salted form, but when you want to use it, you soak it in multiple changes of water over a day or two, and its texture is unique. It can be sautéed with potatoes, onions, olives, and spicy sausage.

Fresh cod is delectable in its own right. You can braise it in cioppino, but it stands alone very nicely baked, grilled, or sautéed with vegetables. You have to be careful to add it to a cioppino near the end of cooking or you'll overcook it.
 
What? Salt cod is completely different from fresh cod. Much saltier and firmer texture. It lasts forever in its dried salted form, but when you want to use it, you soak it in multiple changes of water over a day or two, and its texture is unique. It can be sautéed with potatoes, onions, olives, and spicy sausage.

Fresh cod is delectable in its own right. You can braise it in cioppino, but it stands alone very nicely baked, grilled, or sautéed with vegetables. You have to be careful to add it to a cioppino near the end of cooking or you'll overcook it.
That's what I'm saying. Both are fish stews except bacalao uses salted cod -- different taste profile.
 
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