WEBVTT - Making Heads or Tails of Gefilte Fish 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:11.960 Hello, and welcome to Savor production of iHeartRadio. I'm Annie Reese. 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:14.200 And I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have an episode 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:15.720 for you about gaffilter fish. 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:20.240 Yes, I think I know the answer, but any particular 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:21.720 reason this was on your mind? Lauren? 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:26.720 Yes, as we record this, the Jewish holiday Passover is 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:31.159 right coming right up, and this is a dish that 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:33.919 is associated with Jewish holidays like Passover. 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:38.159 Yes, and I believe I've told this story before. My 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:42.440 one and only experience with gafilter fish was when I 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.280 went to in college. I went to a friend of 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:50.280 mine's Passover. Oh, and I could tell it was a dish, 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:52.320 like everyone was looking at me to see how I 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:56.000 would react, you know, And I tried and I was like, yeah, 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:58.520 it's good, no complaints. 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:03.960 Yeah, yeah, I think if you're if you're totally unfamiliar, 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:10.160 sometimes American palettes aren't east to the concept of like 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:15.000 a fish meatball kind of kind of thing, and particularly 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:18.959 if it's served chilled, that might be something that you're 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:22.520 just slightly confused by. But but yeah, I mean, you know, 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:23.720 food is good. 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:24.200 I like it. 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:27.920 Yeah, we I did, not to be fair, I did 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:29.880 not like a field fish when I was a kid, 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:33.880 and I haven't had it very often as an adult. 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:35.520 When I was a kid, it was just it was 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:39.280 too fishy for me, and right there was a texture 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:42.319 thing going on that I was not accustomed to and 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:49.520 therefore was kind of wary of. But also like my 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:53.960 family served it out of the jar, So I feel 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:57.000 like that might be that might have something to do 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:57.280 with it. 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:03.280 I have seen a lot lot of similar compellints, yeah, 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.080 which we'll talk about later. Yeah. 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:13.200 Yeah, briefly, fast fast over passover being a feast day. Sorry, 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:16.240 mixed up the words feast and past. Where I liked 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:25.200 it is a is a feast day that is in 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:31.880 remembrance and and celebration of the Jewish people getting out 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:37.840 of Egypt basically, so yeah. 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:42.200 Yes, And you can see our past episodes on MATSA 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:51.080 and Lucas maybe sure also aspect horse Radish. Oh, I 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:55.200 like all those. That's an interesting combination. I guess that 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:56.440 brings us to our question. 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:58.200 I guess it does. I feel like I've got a 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:00.239 lot of spoilers in here, but yeah, go ahead. 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:07.240 Gefilter fish, what is it? 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:12.240 Well, gafilter fish is a type of minced fish loaf 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:15.760 or dumpling that can come in a lot of varieties, 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:18.920 but what you're basically looking at is some kind or 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:23.440 kinds of usually fresh water, white fleshed fish, chopped fine 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:26.519 and then mixed with a mazza meal or maybe breadcrumbs, 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:30.679 diced onion, egg and seasonings basic stuff like salt and 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:34.240 pepper and maybe sugar, and then formed into small loaves 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:37.760 and cooked until tender, usually in a method like poaching 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:41.520 or steaming that gives them a soft finish. They can 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:45.280 be served chilled or room temperature or warm, often as 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.720 an appetizer with a with like a horse radish sauce 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:53.720 like hot horse radish, often for holiday meals. When gafilter 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.480 fish is chilled, they gel up a bit with an 0:03:56.560 --> 0:04:02.080 almost aspect sort of quality. When warm, they's fluffy. They're 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:07.240 a non crispy fish cake. They inspire some strong nostalgia 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:13.240 and other strong opinions for me. At their best, they're 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:17.640 like if you took just a spoonful of like hearty 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:24.200 clear broth fish stew and made it delicate. It's a 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:26.840 it's a kind of practical sort of treat. It's like 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.039 it's like pulling on a fine sweater. 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.120 I do like putting on a fine sweater. 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:45.000 Right, yeah, yeah, uh okay. I will say at the 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:48.279 top here that some of these strong opinions about cafil 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:52.400 to fish come from people only having been exposed to 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:58.000 the manufactured jarred type, which tend to be like simultaneously 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:04.280 extra strongly fishy and extra soft in texture. I mean, 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:07.400 it's a canned dumpling, Like what do you expect? And 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.640 this is one of those cases where handmade is like 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:14.920 almost a different creature. Though, I like, I haven't had 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:17.360 the jarred kind since I was a kid, and now 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:19.360 I'm going, like what I like them? I like strongly 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:20.120 fishy flavors. 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:20.400 Now. 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:26.160 Anyway, Also note here that if you're unfamiliar with kosher observances, 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:28.520 I'm gonna mention a couple things throughout the episode, but 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:31.560 like that's a different episode. Like, if you're not familiar 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:36.200 and you're planning on cooking for someone who does keep kosher, 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:40.520 you should either look up kosher recipes or just ask 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:46.400 them what's appropriate, as with any dietary preference or restriction. Also, 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:52.400 in addition to not being scientists or dieticians, I'm not 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:55.599 an expert in kosher observances. 0:05:57.000 --> 0:06:01.760 Yeah, we're experts and a couple of things, but a 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:07.479 lot of them surprisingly are not food based at all. Yeah, 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:08.880 we're learning with all of you. 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:17.880 But okay, so let's unpack those ingredients first. The fish, 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:22.000 whatever is local and fresh and preferred can work, but 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:25.640 like nice, mild, flaky types of white freshwater fish are 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:30.359 the most common. Things like pike, carp or whitefish. Things 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:32.839 that are you know, like a little delicately sweet, a 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:36.800 little fishy, not too oily. Note that not all fish 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:39.320 are kosher. For example, catfish are not because they don't 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:45.880 have scales. Again, kosher stuff separate episode. Next. Fine chopped 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:50.080 onion and possibly other aromatic vegetables like maybe carrots can 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:53.039 add some flavor and some texture in there. Sometimes these 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:55.159 will be cooked before being added so that they're not 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:59.520 too crunchy in the final product. Egg and mozza meal 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:02.880 are in to bind everything together and lead to like 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:06.960 a light and tender texture. Mozza meal is the coarseish 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:11.000 ground meal made from matza, which are unlovened crackers usually 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:14.240 made out of wheat flour. They're good at soaking up 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:17.480 moisture and flavor, while like maintaining fluff as long as 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:21.680 you don't pack them too hard. Egg white proteins meanwhile, 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:25.320 unfurl when they're heated and then form like springy little 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:29.600 chains and webs that can trap moisture as well, as 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:32.440 long as you don't heat them too much. Further past 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:37.320 that point, egg yolks provide richness. Other season seasonings tend 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:41.239 to be minimal salt, pepper, maybe lemon juice or nutmeg 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.480 or something like that. Some traditions do add a bit 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:47.520 of sugar to play on the slight sweetness of the fish. 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:52.160 It's usually just a bit of sugar, like sweet like 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:57.200 a crab cake, not sweet like a birthday cake. Usually, again, 0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:03.440 people have opinions. The cooking method really can vary. Like traditionally, 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:06.520 what you do is you get a whole fish, or 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:09.120 like a bunch of hole fish. Really, you remove the 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:11.600 filets and then make a fish stock using the heads 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:16.280 and bones plus some you know, onions, carrots, celery whatever. Meanwhile, 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.160 you find, chop the fish, mix it with the other ingredients, 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:22.200 and gently hand press it into like little oval dumplings 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:24.440 like the size of an egg or like a canal. 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:28.760 You know. Then when the stock is done, you strain 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.840 it and heat it to just poaching temperature like hot 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:34.520 but well under a simmer, you know, and then gently 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:36.960 poach the dumplings until the fish is cooked and the 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:40.680 egg holds everything together. At this point they can be 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:43.520 served warm or stored in the fridge to chill, and 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:50.000 then later served either directly or gently reheated. When cafilter 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:52.559 fish is chilled in a bit of that fish stock, 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:56.200 the stock will form up into you know, a sort 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.839 of like gela or aspec due to the gelatin in 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:03.199 the fish bones, you know, like a like a savory 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:07.160 fish broth jello kind of situation. And so when they're 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:10.199 served chilled, a bit of the gel is often served 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:15.080 along with the gaffelda fish. The kind of traditional or 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:18.080 maybe old fashioned way I guess of serving them is 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:21.240 with a coin of cooked carrot on top of each 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:25.120 piece and then an accompaniment of prepared horsepratish that is 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:28.160 fresh grated horsepradish with a bit of vinegar to preserve 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:31.160 the spiciness. Yeah, or maybe like a cold sauce made 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:35.400 with horsepratish and beets or mayo or something maybe like 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:37.959 on top a leaf lettuce or with sprigs of parsley 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:42.040 or dill. But people do all kinds of takes. I've 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:46.880 seen recipes for steamed cafilter fish, baked cafilter fish, gafilter 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:49.840 made with cold smoked fish, or with nice rich salmon. 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:53.040 You can form larger loaves and then slice them into 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:57.360 individual portions after cooking and or chilling. There are regional 0:09:57.440 --> 0:09:59.800 rifts of fish cakes that are fried or that are 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:02.680 so with a tomato sauce or served with a lemon sauce. 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:11.440 I'm pretty sure I just had the traditional carrot on top. 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:14.280 It was cold, but it was savory. I remember that. 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:15.560 Yeah it was good. 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:19.320 Yeah, yeah, it was good. 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:22.480 What about the nutrition. 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:26.800 I guess by themselves. It depends on how you make it, 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:30.199 as with any dish, you know, by themselves. Cathelta fish 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:33.920 are pretty good for you, you know, like decent punch of protein. 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:36.920 It can can be can range high in fats depending 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:41.760 on how you make them. But yeah, I'd say overall, yeah, 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:45.880 drink water, eat a vegetable that isn't just a single 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:47.120 coin of carrot. 0:10:49.160 --> 0:11:01.840 Day. All right, Well, the numbers. 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:01.839 We have known for you, I have no numbers for you. 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:08.920 I could not find numbers about the global production of 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:13.559 manufactured gafilter fish and I maybe I didn't look that hard. 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:15.840 I could have looked harder. 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:22.040 This is probably my fault. It's okay, Lauren, Well yeah, 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:29.160 I think so. Okay, listeners, they'll forgive it. It's the 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:36.520 holidays were about right forget Yeah, sure, well we do 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:39.120 have quite a history for you. We do. 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:41.559 But first we've got a quick break for a word 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:43.040 from our sponsors. 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:56.200 And we're back. Thank you sponsors, Yes, thank you. Uh So. 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:00.040 Although gafilter fish is a dish that is in and 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:03.760 like small loaf, formed today, it started out as a 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:08.400 type of stuffed or or force meat fish dish. The 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:11.960 Yiddish term gefilta comes from a word for stuffed. 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:17.960 Yes, and the first recipe for stuffed pike appeared in 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:21.800 a non Jewish German cookbook from around thirteen fifty CE. 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:24.840 The recipe called for herbs like saffron and stage to 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:27.880 be mixed together with fish meat and then put back 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:32.679 into the fish skin for roasting. Soon after, similar recipes 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:37.200 started appearing in French cookbooks and yeah, during Lint and 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:41.400 other religious days for Catholics, this and dishes like it 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:45.319 were very popular for you know, abstaining from meat. 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:48.840 Because fish don't count is meat for complicated other reasons. 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:54.080 Yeah, complicated other reasons. Indeed, sometime during the Middle Ages, 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:58.480 some Jewish communities in Europe adopted the dish in some celebrations, 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:01.520 since fish dishes were often and symbolic of a lot 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:03.160 of things in Judaism. 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:07.520 Yeah, prosperity, protection, fertility. 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:10.880 Yes, And for a while there were a lot of 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:14.120 regional takes on this dish, different types of fish used, 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:18.760 based on what was readily available, different preparations, but one 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:22.040 thing was fairly true across all of it. It was 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:26.720 time consuming m h yep. That is until a new, 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:31.200 less arduous preparation came alone. Many Jewish households in Europe 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:35.280 started making dumplings with fish, eggs and mozzamiale by the 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:38.400 seventeenth century. That could be viewed as a precursor to 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:44.040 more common modern preparations of filter fish, and it was. 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:45.920 It was a popular dish for a lot of reasons 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:50.000 for Jewish folks in Europe, perhaps especially to those with 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:54.480 easy access to fish. It was fairly cheap, it was convenient, 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:57.880 and could be made ahead of time to meet religious stipulations. 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:03.120 Yeah, you're not spoke to do work during the Sabbath 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:06.839 or high holidays, and work includes pulling the bones out 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:09.240 of fish. But you could make these dumplings like the 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:13.320 day before, and you know they're by nature boneless, and 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:15.959 they're pre cooked for consumption the day of. 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:22.880 I'm all for it. In nineteenth century Poland, the introduction 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:26.760 of the sugar beet industry led to sweet gafilter fish. 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:30.240 At the time, imported sugar was incredibly expensive in Europe, 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:34.240 so Europeans were looking for cheaper alternatives. One of these 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:37.880 alternatives was the sugar beet, and the first sugar beet 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:41.160 factory opened in southern Poland in the early eighteen hundreds. 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:44.960 It was a success, and the resulting sugar was utilized 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:47.480 in a variety of dishes and in a variety of ways. 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:50.880 Jewish people in Poland took dishes that had traditionally been 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:54.080 typically savory and added the sugar to make them sweet, 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:55.680 including gafilter fish. 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:59.680 I understand this is also where like sweet coogles come from. 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:04.000 Still have not had the wherewithal to do a cocol episode. 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:08.600 It's difficult, y'all. But again, in terms of gafilterfish, it's 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:12.720 usually a little sweet, not like dessert sweet, although like 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:17.120 kind of the further west you go, apparently the sweeter, 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:21.440 the tradition sort of becomes. Research in fact points to 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:26.920 a Gaffilter fish line or divide in Europe, with regions 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:29.840 including most of Poland and everything to the west having 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:33.920 adopted sweetened versions of Gafilter fish and regions to the 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:38.320 east having stuck with more savory and perhaps increasingly peppery versions. 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:45.560 Yes, opinions m hm oh, yeah, pinions abound on that, 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:51.600 and this is also just one of many yeah, regional 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:54.000 variations that popped up in Europe around this time based 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:59.520 on taste and available ingredients. With the immigration of Ashkenazi 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:03.320 Jews to America and eighteen hundreds, recipes for these fish 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.400 balls or fish dumplings as they were called started appearing 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:10.000 in Jewish American cookbooks. This dish did go by a 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:12.160 few names for a while, some of them are kind 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:14.600 of funny you want to look them up, until they 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:18.800 were finally labeled in print as gefilter fish in nineteen 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:23.440 sixty five of note Gaffield fish took a different path 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.800 for Jewish immigrants in Mexico based on available ingredients and 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:32.840 preferred preparations in the early twentieth century, before many had 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:36.840 access to refrigeration. Allegedly, some Jewish homes would keep fish 0:16:36.960 --> 0:16:39.680 live in their bathtubs for a few days prior to 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:44.240 something like Passover, before they were eaten. This obviously wasn't 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:47.160 the easiest thing for some, this was taking up their 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:51.680 only bathtub, so a little before World War Two, Mother's 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:56.680 Fish Products, the brainchild of Sidney Leibner, started selling canned, 0:16:56.840 --> 0:17:01.680 ready made gaffilter fish as an alternative. Later, the company 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:06.040 switched to selling this product in jars. Menschevitz, a company 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.920 we've discussed previously, soon follows suit, as did a few 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:11.480 other Jewish specialty food companies. 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:14.960 Amidst all of this, four people who still wanted to 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:18.879 make theirs at home. Some recipes in the convenience hungary 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:22.919 nineteen sixties called for canned tuna so that you wouldn't even. 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:28.480 Have to cook them, And then the nineteen seventies saw 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:31.920 the arrival of frozen loaves of cafilter fish that were 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:34.760 simple enough to make in your own home. Simply boil 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:37.400 some water with carrot, celery and onions and then add 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:39.640 in the frozen loaf. There you go. 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:41.359 That's what a lot of people will do with the 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.480 like Manishevitz the jarred kind? Yeah, just you know, fancy 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.159 it up a tiny bit with yeah, a little bit 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:48.080 of home home soup. 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:55.399 Yeah, I'm into it. I'm into it. Conservative commentator William F. 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:59.280 Buckley wrote in response to what he viewed as an 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.560 attempt at handering on the part of Ronald Reagan President 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:04.919 Ronald Reagan at the time eating spaghetti to court the 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:09.240 Italian American vote quote, it is simply good manners to 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:12.280 pretend to enjoy what you are served, though an exception 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:16.359 might here be made of gafilter fish, the conception of 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:21.359 which reasonable epicureans might conclude is not worth going through 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:30.280 to gain admission to the White House. Wow, all right. 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:35.479 Yeah, being president is cool, but not cool enough to 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:40.800 want to eat gafilter fish. I get it. Yeah, yeah, 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:47.560 yeah again opinions. There was a in twenty fourteen a 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:52.760 North American gafilter fish shortage in Deli's around passover due 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:54.920 to that polar vortex that year that kept the Great 0:18:55.000 --> 0:19:00.399 Lakes iced over longer and thicker than usual. Apparently, reader 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:04.520 of The New York Times wrote in after they reported 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:08.240 on the story to say scarcity of gaffilter fish. This 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:15.480 is the best news since the Red Sea parted. Oh 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:20.879 my goodness, y'all are welcome for me not going like 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:32.400 full Rotney Dangerfield. Meanwhile, the Gaffilteriea launched in twenty twelve. 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:35.280 They are a media company that does like workshops and 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:41.119 cookbooks and stuff, with a mission of exploring and spreading 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:46.600 European Jewish cuisine. One of their initial things that they 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:52.480 did was producing and selling artisanal gafilter fish online, though 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:54.560 they had to shut that down. They had to shut 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:57.760 that whole arm down in twenty twenty three. But about it, 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:00.520 they say on their website to this day, we're pretty 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:05.200 sure it's the only the filter fish ever featured in Vogue. 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:14.480 All Right, Yeah, I feel like I saw a lot 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:18.800 of articles where people are branching out from the jarred 0:20:18.880 --> 0:20:23.760 stuff and finding better versions. Perhaps. 0:20:24.160 --> 0:20:26.560 Oh yeah, no, I mean there can be there's an 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:30.200 interest in and can be an improvement to jarred anything. 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.720 I mean, you know, like, do I sometimes purchase a 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:36.560 jar of pre made Manza balls for manishevits? 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:36.960 Yes? 0:20:37.280 --> 0:20:39.240 Is it better than homemade Mansa balls? 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:42.520 No? Is it more convenient? 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:43.560 Absolutely? 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:48.760 Yeah? And there are ways you can make those. As 0:20:48.800 --> 0:20:52.960 we've demonstrated throughout this, I think you can make those 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:55.960 canned things. You can give them a little. 0:20:55.680 --> 0:20:59.480 More Oh yeah, yeah, oh sure, absolutely, yeah, I add 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:04.800 your own flavor spins on them. I it is, it 0:21:04.880 --> 0:21:07.520 is really, it's a little bit of a pain in 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:12.440 the toukis. But but I personally find making matza balls 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:15.240 or meatballs or anything like that by hand very soothing. 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.159 It's just like a really nice, repetitive task that at 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:22.600 the end of you get matza balls or meatballs, and 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:24.320 so it's ultimately very worth it. 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:29.000 Yeah, that's a nice take on it. 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:31.719 Yeah, And they can just be so much lighter and 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:34.040 fluffier than you usually I mean, if you go to 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:34.920 like a nice restaurant. 0:21:34.960 --> 0:21:38.800 Sure, but yeah, and usually with things like this, you're 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:41.520 not doing it. I did read one article or someone 0:21:41.560 --> 0:21:43.560 who's like, we should eat a filter fish way more often. 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:44.480 But you're not. 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:47.560 You're not eating something like this all the time. 0:21:47.600 --> 0:21:51.480 It's a holiday dish, yeah, for the most part. Also, 0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:55.160 I mean, food processors are amazing, what a great invention. 0:21:57.280 --> 0:22:05.160 Future episode. Oh no, more homework. But in the meantime, 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:07.920 that is what we have to say about filter fish. 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:09.080 For now it is. 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:12.000 We would love to hear from y'all though, if you 0:22:12.040 --> 0:22:16.320 have any experiences or memories or recipe hacks. We do 0:22:16.480 --> 0:22:18.439 already have some listener mail for you, though, and we 0:22:18.480 --> 0:22:19.840 are going to get into that as soon as we 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:21.680 get back from one more quick break for a word 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:23.080 from our sponsors. 0:22:32.840 --> 0:22:35.960 And we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you, and 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:48.160 we're back with listeners. Oh that was a nice one. 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:51.280 We'll see how it sounds. 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:52.960 Yeah, I was just thinking. 0:22:52.760 --> 0:22:58.080 Oh, I was very off key of you, But that's 0:22:58.200 --> 0:23:04.359 on brands I think best fun. I can't sing in key, like, 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:07.480 what is this on key you speak of? No, that's 0:23:07.560 --> 0:23:12.320 not That's not what I do. I make a strong 0:23:12.359 --> 0:23:13.280 attempt and fail. 0:23:13.400 --> 0:23:17.080 We're a lot of funny karaoke. Yeah. 0:23:17.160 --> 0:23:23.720 I'm great at carrios. Oh yeah, meaning I'm enthusiastic but terrible. Yes. 0:23:23.920 --> 0:23:30.360 All right, So we have gotten so many tea opinions 0:23:30.480 --> 0:23:35.520 who thank you, yes, and listeners keep sending them in. 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:40.440 This is fantastic. So we'll start with Kelsey. Kelsey wrote, 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:43.680 my only strong opinion on tea is when I recently 0:23:43.760 --> 0:23:48.760 learned is moderately controversial for me. Milk or milk like 0:23:48.840 --> 0:23:53.040 liquid should always be added to one's cup before the tea, 0:23:54.320 --> 0:23:57.640 pouring in the tea afterward, especially if you can get 0:23:57.680 --> 0:24:02.520 some height involved. Auto mixes the two quite nicely. Apparently, 0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:06.160 in Britain and Britain Leaning cultures, the order in which 0:24:06.160 --> 0:24:09.080 milk and tea are added to one's cup has class 0:24:09.160 --> 0:24:15.639 connotations m shrug emoji only barely relatedly. The digestive system 0:24:15.720 --> 0:24:18.280 of my spouse is forever at war with garlic and onions. 0:24:19.640 --> 0:24:22.480 In order to flavor our food, I have repurposed my 0:24:22.600 --> 0:24:27.120 tea infusure as a soup stew sauce infuser. I fill 0:24:27.119 --> 0:24:29.880 it with minced aromatics and flop it in a simmering 0:24:29.920 --> 0:24:33.720 liquid as if it were a bouquet ghani. If I 0:24:33.840 --> 0:24:37.639 plan ahead or just don't forget, I sauta the aliums 0:24:37.680 --> 0:24:41.359 before infusing. Works better than no onions, and I add 0:24:41.359 --> 0:24:44.040 the solids from inside the infuser into my own bowl. 0:24:44.119 --> 0:24:48.640 So we're both happy. That's amazing. That's a good idea. 0:24:49.160 --> 0:24:54.119 I have a friend who's onion adverse. I'll say, okay, 0:24:55.440 --> 0:24:58.640 and maybe this, maybe this could work. 0:24:59.280 --> 0:25:04.760 Maybe it depends. It depends on the severity of the war. 0:25:08.440 --> 0:25:11.000 And so I mean if your spouse is anything like me. 0:25:11.160 --> 0:25:15.080 It depends on what other foods they've cheated with that 0:25:15.280 --> 0:25:17.840 day that they know that they shouldn't really consume, because 0:25:17.840 --> 0:25:20.199 for me, it's like a cumulative over the day or 0:25:20.240 --> 0:25:26.720 over a couple days kind of situation for me, I 0:25:26.720 --> 0:25:29.439 don't know that would be better than me having to 0:25:29.440 --> 0:25:32.640 pick around garlic and onions, but it wouldn't be as 0:25:32.800 --> 0:25:35.320 good as not cooking with the garlic and onions. And 0:25:35.359 --> 0:25:39.720 I say that understanding that garlic and onions are very 0:25:39.760 --> 0:25:44.480 delicious and that I want everyone to eat as many 0:25:44.560 --> 0:25:45.639 of them as they want to. 0:25:47.840 --> 0:25:54.760 Thank you, Laura. Oh yeah, my friend, she's not I know. 0:25:54.800 --> 0:25:57.600 I've told this story before because it makes me laugh. 0:25:57.680 --> 0:26:01.600 She's not intolerant or anything. She just thinks flavors overpowering. 0:26:02.240 --> 0:26:07.840 And she's on a reddit breddit about people who don't 0:26:07.920 --> 0:26:10.720 like onions, and it got infiltrated by people who like us. 0:26:11.680 --> 0:26:15.399 It was my favorite. I was laughing so hard. So 0:26:15.440 --> 0:26:17.159 I think if it, like, if I could lighten the 0:26:18.560 --> 0:26:22.800 she'll eat them. It's just the flavors overpower. 0:26:22.359 --> 0:26:23.920 Yeah, and so certainly a whole chunk of it in 0:26:23.960 --> 0:26:28.320 there would be unpleasant to her, Yes, yeah, yeah. 0:26:27.800 --> 0:26:31.760 Also, I have to say I thought that there was 0:26:31.800 --> 0:26:33.760 a typo in here, but I had to look it up. 0:26:33.840 --> 0:26:37.160 I've never heard of bouquet arni, which is French term. 0:26:37.200 --> 0:26:40.040 Oh yeah, yeah. It's when you tie up a little 0:26:40.080 --> 0:26:42.040 bundle of herbs and you toss it into your thing 0:26:42.040 --> 0:26:43.639 and then it's easy to take out as a bundle 0:26:43.720 --> 0:26:46.240