A Pesach/Passover thread

[EishetChayil]

I tried to start one for Purim but didn't get any takers!

If anyone fancies a Pesach chat, I'm up for it.

I just did an order on Sabeny (a very useful grocery & sundries website, if you're not familiar with it - delivers all over the UK) after planning some meals, so I'm feeling weirdly on top of things.

Haven't even thought about cleaning yet.

I didn’t know there was a jar version of gefilte fish. I bet it’s really slimy . My DGMs were so tasty and had just the right balance - not too wet or too dry and not too sweet. 😋.

@Stillfunny whaaat?? Gefilte fish is yummy, with extra strong chrayne mixed with mayo . Not from a jar. That's just gross. We tell the kids you can always spot a gefilte fish in the sea, because of the carrot on their head

@Flyingteaspoon yeah it's slimy. I tried it once. (not envy)

What sort of fish is gefilte fish?

I don't care for chrayn. Looks pretty, tastes vinegary. I prefer to make my own, grating fresh horseradish and mixing it with mayo and grated apple. Though if I can't make my own, I will use a jar of bought horseradish sauce (Colemans and Waitrose are both nicely potent).

I haven't yet found any fresh horseradish, and I'm not going to use petrol driving around to check out all the local supermarkets and markets this year! So it'll be jarred.

I love gefilte fish, but only if it's freshly made! I make mine from scratch. I've had some good fish from delis, but never the jarred, it's vile.

@MissMarplesNiece it depends on where you are. Here on the East Coast of the USA it's some mix of carp, pike, and/or whitefish, which I believe is what was traditional in Eastern Europe. We use pike and whitefish. IN the UK you use ocean fish instead, like hake, haddock. On the West Coast of the USA I've heard of them using salmon. You grind it up, mix it with egg and seasonings, and then poach the balls/patties in fish stock, or some people bake it. Or in the UK you also get fried gefilte fish.

@knitnerd90 Hake & Haddock mixed with egg and seasoning and then cooked sounds quite nice.

How did it get to be traditional to eat it at Passover? I don't know very much about Judaism but always imagined that Passover food would be the food mentioned in the Old Testament (The Torah?) when the 10th plague was visited on the Egyptians - Lamb and bitter herbs.

OK, maybe that's why we have mixed opinions on gelfilte fish. My experience is NYC Lower East Side.

Tasted similar to Minnesota Nirwegian fish that is soaked in lyle.

Now if it was salmon , haddock in UK style , I would change my mind . Wonder if I can get myself invited to a Seder ??

The origins aren't Passover specific. In many families it's served every Shabbat. It has to do with the prohibition on separating fish from the bones on Shabbat. So the original dish, you'd take the fish off the bones, stuff it back in the skin and cook it: gefilte means "stuffed." Over time it turned into fish balls.

Pike is really very good. In France, they make quenelles de brochet from it, which is a much posher version :grin:

We do have bitter herbs at the Seder (horseradish or a more bitter type of lettuce) but many Jews have a custom not to eat roast lamb (or sometimes roasted meat in general) on the Seder night precisely because it was used in the Temple.

[quote EllaDisenchanted]@Stillfunny whaaat?? Gefilte fish is yummy, with extra strong chrayne mixed with mayo . Not from a jar. That's just gross. We tell the kids you can always spot a gefilte fish in the sea, because of the carrot on their head [/quote]

This has given me an idea for a sauce I will call "chrayonnaise"

The origins aren't Passover specific. In many families it's served every Shabbat..

Yes we had it just about every week. There was a plate of Gefilte fish balls and one of fried fishballs which we always had with chrayneI have chrayne with beef, fish and chicken. I love that stuff.

@Dilbertian I buy a local kosher brand. Made with beetroot.
@knitnerd90 I didn't know chopped and fried was a European jewish thing ,but I've just messaged my friends in NY and they said they don't
@MissMarplesNiece it's not traditional to eat at pesach. We eat gefilte fish year round, usually as appetiser on shabbos, or fishballs at seuda shlishit (3rd meal on shabbos). On pesach, as it is made with matzo meal, it is not chametz.
The meal part of the seder is only a small part. We do eat bitter herbs (generally horseradish and romaine lettuce in my house), charoset (no idea what that translates to) but they are eaten as part of the steps of the seder. The meal is a separate step and is not the focus.
People eat lots of different things. We usually have chicken soup with knaidlech (matzo balls), roast chicken, roast potatoes, cooked veg, kugels, sometimes meat, etc. The meal is not a set menu.

@EishetChayil you're too late!! It's already called chrayonnaise by everyone

@Flyingteaspoon my grandparents had it with galareta

Ella. I had to Google galareta as I’ve not heard of it. I can’t think of anything with meat in that wouldn’t be enhanced by a bit of chrayne to be honest

Calves foot jelly/ptcha? My family called it fisnogge

ilove hearing about other cultures,i just had a lookat the Jewish supermarket online wow the prices are so high is that normal and can i ask why they are so expensive?

im guessing its a niche market compared to eg christian population
is your food bill generallymuch higher than most peoples?

many thanks

All this talk of gefilte fish has made me miss my Nana's. Her fried ones were excellent - and I don't even like fish! She also made coconut macaroons and cinnamon balls. I have her A Way to a Man's Stomach recipe book and can see where she annotated her recipes. Sweet memories.

My family isn't very observant but Pesach has always been my favourite festival. No cleaning (other than the usual) but we read the Haggadah, hold a Seder meal and I can still reel off the Ma Nishtana.

@whatsthestory123 if you're looking at pesach food prices then yes, it is significantly higher. I keep strictly kosher and the food is more expensive, however most people cook a lot from scratch which is comparatively cheaper. You can get ready meals, but with large families that would be very uneconomical.

@TakeMeToYourLiar genius!!

[quote EllaDisenchanted]@whatsthestory123 if you're looking at pesach food prices then yes, it is significantly higher. I keep strictly kosher and the food is more expensive, however most people cook a lot from scratch which is comparatively cheaper. You can get ready meals, but with large families that would be very uneconomical.[/quote]
it's just normal items buy im gurssing kosher

£3 for a tin of peaches
£4-6 a box of cereal
and lots more tha areeveryday items that areso expensive

It really depends - there may be markups for other reasons. Specialist kosher supermarkets often charge more in my experience.

Pesach is particularly expensive and kosher meat and cheese are pricier year round. Many items though I can buy in an ordinary supermarket (less so for Pesach, but generally).

What's more worrying is the stories I have been hearing about a chicken shortage here! I have put in an order for all of that ...

What'sthestory that sounds like pesach food prices unless they were giant catering sized tinned peaches.
During the year we would buy cereals from supermarkets. Some brands sell kosher cereals and there is a decent range we can buy. Also tinned peaches fine from supermarket as long as it is not in grape juice. Annoyingly the tinned fruit cocktails in juice are identical but sometimes the exact same ones are in pineapple juice and sometimes grape juice, so i have to check the ingredients on every tin.

Eeeeek knitnerd!!

Does anyone else start the meal itself with a hard boiled egg in salt water?