# Gefilte fish **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 18, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814 "2009-01-18T02:18:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/21 "2009-01-18T09:48:34Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Purple kind? I know of the white kind and the red kind, the red being dyed with beets. But red horseradish is an essential component of any meal that includes gefilte fish. > > Gefilte is not found by my spellchecker, it seems. I call discriminations. You call it red, I’ve always called it purple. So, I’m color blind. It is very hard to find in the Bay Area. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/22 "2009-01-18T09:49:48Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Borscht, my friend, is teh bomb. Yes, the way my grandmother and mother made it. And I despise beets - except when in borscht. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/23 "2009-01-18T16:11:06Z")
I like borscht, but I haven’t had it in forever. I like canned beets, and always get them when I go to a salad bar. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/24 "2009-01-18T16:23:50Z")
My wife makes borscht with [kubbeh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbeh), creating the most awesome Ashkenzic-Sepahrdic fusion dish ever. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/25 "2009-01-18T16:31:55Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > You call it red, I’ve always called it purple. So, I’m color blind. It is very hard to find in the Bay Area. You can try ordering it online. The store at [kosher.com](http://kosher.com) has all sorts of horseradishes with beets, including extra strong and triple strong. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/26 "2009-01-18T16:44:33Z")
I had a baddish experience with a homemade version once – I’m assuming the hostess was a good cook, having gone to the trouble to make it from scratch, but it turned out to have lots and lots of bones. I wasn’t expecting that based on the basically boneless pre-prepared (and bland) versions I knew, and I gave up. ---
**Author:** ![Carson\_O\_Genic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/27 "2009-01-18T18:33:43Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > I had a baddish experience with a homemade version once – I’m assuming the hostess was a good cook, having gone to the trouble to make it from scratch, but it turned out to have lots and lots of bones. I wasn’t expecting that based on the basically boneless pre-prepared (and bland) versions I knew, and I gave up. ``` I'm not Jewish, but the real stuff uses the bones simmered with the fish long enough to render collagen, wherein everything is processed and formed into the usual rounded shape. ``` JMO, but that’s why the fish tastes bland- it’s overcooked- and can use the horseradish boost. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/28 "2009-01-18T18:47:07Z")
> [@trapezoidal\_jellyfish](#): > > if you like the kind from the jar, try the kind that comes in a frozen loaf. you boil it or smush it in a pan and bake it. beats the jar stuff any day! Exactly what I was going to say. The stuff in the jar is terrible. Frozen gefilte fish is much better. Ed ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/29 "2009-01-18T19:06:13Z")
I have been afraid of gefilte fish ever since I saw my first jar of it, and the stuff was green. I know it’s not _supposed_ to be green, but I can’t get that image out of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/30 "2009-01-18T19:08:06Z")
**Johnny L.A.** , I believe Olsen’s Scandinavian Foods in Ballard has fish meatballs and/or “fish pudding”. I’ve never actually tried either of them myself, but if you’re curious you might want to give it a shot. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/31 "2009-01-18T19:13:22Z")
Please don’t hate me. Understand that I am not bound by any dietary laws. I know that gefilte fish is a cherished part of your upbringing; but not being Jewish and having only tasted one for the first time yesterday, to me they’re just fish balls. No offense or disrespect is intended. So I’ve just had a bacon-wrapped gefilte fish. It just seemed like it would go together. It was good. I think I’ll try this with some halibut. (If I had any halibut. I’ll have to get some.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/32 "2009-01-18T19:15:31Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > **Johnny L.A.** , I believe Olsen’s Scandinavian Foods in Ballard has fish meatballs and/or “fish pudding”. I’ve never actually tried either of them myself, but if you’re curious you might want to give it a shot. I’ll look them up. I like Scandinavian foods. Do you know if they have any lingonberry jam? I can’t seem to find any up here. (Shopping list: Lingonberry jam, if there is any; gravlax; pickled herring…) ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/33 "2009-01-18T19:19:13Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ll look them up. I like Scandinavian foods. Do you know if they have any lingonberry jam? I can’t seem to find any up here. (Shopping list: Lingonberry jam, if there is any; gravlax; pickled herring…) They do have lingonberry jam; they also usually have frozen lingonberries if you want to make your own. I also highly recommend their smoked salmon (it’s cold-smoked) and their pickled herring. They also usually have salted herring if you want to pickle it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/34 "2009-01-18T19:21:57Z")
Do they have Surströmming? (Just kidding!) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/35 "2009-01-18T19:23:15Z")
I’m not so fond of the jarred kind but my step-mom buys the best home made gefilte fish ever. This old Jewish man owned a little deli somewhere in L.A. and made it from scratch every Passover. He sold the deli to a Mexican family in the 80’s but in order to avert rioting, he continued to supply the gefilte every year. When he got too old for that, he taught the Mexican family how to make it and they do to this day. Every Passover, I look forward to my traditional Mexican gefilte fish. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/36 "2009-01-18T19:25:50Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Do they have Surströmming? (Just kidding!) Nope, but they do have lutefisk and that weird dried lamb stuff. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/37 "2009-01-18T19:31:10Z")
> [@trapezoidal\_jellyfish](#): > > if you like the kind from the jar, try the kind that comes in a frozen loaf. you boil it or smush it in a pan and bake it. beats the jar stuff any day! I’ve had both kinds and I’d only eat the frozen loaf kind again. But that was during my brief flirting-with-pescetarianism phase. I’m back to being a vegetarian, but if I were going to eat any flesh products it’d be gefilte fish made from frozen and whitefish salad. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/38 "2009-01-18T19:31:54Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ll look them up. I like Scandinavian foods. Do you know if they have any lingonberry jam? I can’t seem to find any up here. (Shopping list: Lingonberry jam, if there is any; gravlax; pickled herring…) Are you near an IKEA? They have a decent selection. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/39 "2009-01-18T19:37:38Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Are you near an IKEA? They have a decent selection. Define ‘near’. 😛 There’s one in Seattle (or Renton), but it’s the wrong way from the office. And it’s a long drive if I’m not in Seattle already. The nearest one is in Richmond, BC. That’s not much farther, going in the opposite direction, than the drive to Bellingham; but I have to cross the border, which may take some time. I like their food section. Lots of nice treats there. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814/40 "2009-01-18T19:41:37Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > **Johnny L.A.** , I believe Olsen’s Scandinavian Foods in Ballard has fish meatballs and/or “fish pudding”. I’ve never actually tried either of them myself, but if you’re curious you might want to give it a shot. King Oscar brand? I couldn’t quite make myself eat them, but when my Norwegian father-in-law was still alive, I would occasionally buy a couple of cans. I used to set the balls aside and make a white sauce using the liquid as the base of the sauce and he used to say they “tasted funny” and when I invariably rose to the bait, he’d say, “Jah, tastes funny, tastes like more”. So I guess they were okay. My husband and eldest son used to eat them, but after Poppa died I didn’t hear a chorus demanding that I make them again, so I never did. But only last week - isn’t this a coincidence? - I got to thinking about them because of thread about gefilte fish on another site and when I’ve been out and about I’ve looked for King Oscar fishballs and apparently they have vanished from the face of the earth. The part I inhabit, anyway. So, if I make gefilte fish, I’m making fishballs? Maybe I’ll give it a try. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gefilte-fish/481814.md?page=3)