APRIL 7 • 2022 | 31

continued on page 32

BABA ROSE’S GEFILTE FISH
For the fish stock
8 pounds boned white fish, head, skin and bones reserved
3 large Spanish onions, ends trimmed and scored
Kosher salt
Quite a lot of pepper
Enough water to reach 2½ inches deep in the stock pot
Heads, bones and skin of filleted whitefish

Directions
Remove ends and peel onions. Cut a ½-inch deep X 
cross pattern on the onion ends. Place in the bottom 
of a large stockpot. Add kosher salt with quite a lot of 
pepper. Pour enough water into the pot to measure 
exactly 2½ inches deep and bring to a boil. Add the 
fish trimmings to the water and return to a boil. Cover 
and let stock simmer while making the fish.

For The Fish
1 medium bowl of water
3 medium finely chopped onions, sprinkled with Kosher salt
8 pounds deboned and ground whitefish
7 eggs, beaten with a fork
3 level soup spoons of kosher salt
40 shakes of black pepper, plus another 24
3 level soup spoons of matzah meal
Fish stock

Directions
Fill a bowl with water for rinsing your hands and set 

aside. 
Place the fish in a colander to drain while preparing 
the other ingredients. Chop the onions fine, sprinkled 
with kosher salt. Add the ground fish to the onions. 
In a separate bowl, beat 7 eggs with a fork. Combine 
eggs with the fish and onions. Add the kosher salt, 
black pepper, and matzah meal. Use your hands or a 
fork to mix well, then taste for taste. 
Form the fish to the size of your palm, about three-
inch oblong shaped pieces, rinsing hands as need-
ed. Return the stock to a boil and gently lay the fish 
pieces into the pot with a spoon. Reduce stock to a 
simmer, then cover the pot leaving an air opening. 
Cook for 2½ to 3 hours. Cool the fish in the stock. 
Remove patties from stock and store in the refrigera-
tor. Sprinkle with paprika before serving.
Makes approximately 25, five-ounce patties.

to cooking, which lead to the upcom-
ing Passover holiday. “You make your 
own gefilte fish, don’t you?” he asked, 
assuming all culinarians must. 
 While I learned how to make beau-
tiful terrines and pates in culinary 
school, made similarly, I had never 
made gefilte fish. Our family tradition 
was relying on the jarred innova-
tion and convenience made popular 
in 1888 and introduced by the B. 
Manischewitz Company. 
Whenever I talk to people that 
make gefilte fish, it typically accom-
panies a rich tradition that’s lasted 
for generations. I learned that Tony’s 
family has this kind of long-standing 
gefilte ritual. For more than 20 years, 
he and his two brothers, Dan and Jeff, 
have met in Detroit to make gefilte 
fish with Evelyn, their 96-year-old 
mother. Evelyn was taught by her 
mother-in-law Rose. Rose immigrat-
ed to the U.S. in 1911 at age 16 from 
a shtetl near the unstable borders 
between Russia, the Ukraine and 
Poland, still in the news today. 

BABA ROSE’S RECIPE
“Baba” Rose made her gefilte fish in 
her American kitchen until she was 94 
years old, when Evelyn took over. It 
was done from memory because no 
one had ever created an official writ-
ten recipe. Everything Baba taught 
Evelyn had been transferred to her 
through the hands of the women who 
made it before them. It wasn’t written 
until the mid-1980s, when their Aunt 
Luba followed Rose around the kitch-
en, observing and capturing her steps. 
Aunt Luba’s notes are the document 
the family still uses today. When Tony 
showed it to me, it was obvious how 
much it had been enjoyed over the 
years. Handwritten, it was splashed with 
years of stains from fish stock, paprika 
and maybe egg. Notes are scribbled up 
and down the pages with revisions and 
updates that modernized the recipe. 
The Baron family’s version is savory, 
where others can be sweet, depending 
on which side of the European divide 
you are from. 
Tony talked about how his mom 
would insist on going to the market 
to inspect the eyes of the fish herself, 

