All The Matzo, Charoset And Gefilte Fish Recipes You Need (2024)

FAQs

What are traditional Passover foods? ›

Traditions among Ashkenazi Jews generally include gefilte fish (poached fish dumplings), matzo ball soup, brisket or roast chicken, potato kugel (somewhat like a casserole) and tzimmes, a stew of carrots and prunes, sometimes including potatoes or sweet potatoes.

Gefilte fish translates from Yiddish as "stuffed fish." That's because the dish, which is made by grinding up deboned fish (usually carp, whitefish, mullet, and pike) and adding filler ingredients like breadcrumbs, eggs, and vegetable scraps, was traditionally stuffed back into the skin of a whole fish; then, the ...

We Love It When You Share Our Content. As Passover begins today, many Jewish families will include gefilte fish in their Seder meals. This traditional dish, whose name literally means “stuffed fish” in Yiddish, is especially popular during Jewish festivals, including Passover.

Gefilte fish is a cold appetizer.

During Passover, Ashkenazi Jews traditionally stay away from not only leavened foods like bread, namely barley, oats, rye, spelt, and wheat, but also legumes, rice, seeds, and corn. The ban has been in place since the 13th century, but it's always been controversial.

By the Middle Ages, that Catholic dish had migrated into the Jewish kitchen under the moniker gefilte (stuffed) fish. The rabbis considered fish to be the perfect food to kick off a Sabbath or holiday meal, since fish symbolize the coming of the Messiah and fertility.

However, since Jewish law forbids the separating of the flesh of fish from its bones, pre-made fish cakes such as gefilte fish obviate the need to perform such separation, thus making a preparation such as gefilte fish a regular Sabbath staple, and the perfect vehicle for the requisite fish aphrodisiac.

Jewish law dictates that it is forbidden to eat milk and meat together, and so eating fish on Shabbat helped the Jewish people to closely follow the guidelines of their religion. The Jewish people would also cook enough fish on a Friday to eat as leftovers on Saturday, meaning they could avoid cooking on Shabbat.

How to Store. Refrigerate the gefilte fish in an airtight container within 2 hours and consume within 3 days. To freeze, wrap individual fish balls in plastic wrap and store them in an airtight container. Defrost them in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours or overnight.

The first Jews thought fish encouraged fertility. “They believed the intoxicating odor on the Sabbath table would encourage couples to 'be fruitful and multiply' — which in Jewish tradition is encouraged on Friday night,” writes Tamara Mann of My Jewish Learning. There's also symbolism in the word itself.

Why do Jews eat fish? ›

Partly, that's because Jewish dietary laws allow fish to be eaten with either meat or dairy meals. But it's more than that. In Jewish lore, fish is a symbol of fertility and a sign of the coming of the Messiah, who, according to legend, will come in the form of a great fish from the sea.

The jelly refers to the fish broth that becomes gelatinous at room temperature if you poach your gefilte. Often this occurs in canned gefilte products. Gefilte is made up of ground fish. Traditionally carp, whitefish and pike.

#3: Gefilte Fish

Nutrition: This dish is high in protein and brimming with energy boosting B-vitamins, selenium, zinc and potassium.

How Do You Eat Gefilte Fish? Gefilte fish is typically served cold or at room temperature as an appetizer or side dish. A slice of carrot often adorns each piece of gefilte fish. Horseradish or chrain is served on the side.

This is the seder plate, and each food is symbolic for an aspect of Passover: A roasted shank bone represents the Pescah sacrifice, an egg represents spring and the circle of life, bitter herbs represent the bitterness of slavery, haroset (an applesauce-like mixture with wine, nuts, apples, etc.)

The Torah's Book of Exodus, Chapter 12, offers one description of the instructions for Passover fare: “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: [Each household] shall eat [lamb] roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs” (Jewish Publication Society translation).

The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew day begins at sunset). The day falls in late March or in April of the Gregorian calendar.

The pasta we eat year round is made from wheat flour and is not baked under those conditions. For this reason we do not eat it on Passover. Likewise we do not eat pasta, and other products, made from barley, rye, oats, spelt or their derivatives. But, there is pasta available that may be eaten on Passover.