Making your own gefilte fish is a potchke (Yiddish for “a fuss”), but some intrepid souls still do it. “Half of Brookline is looking to buy whitefish and carp at this time of year,” says Rick Taylor, manager for 38 years at Wulf’s Fish Market in Brookline. “People come in here with their grandmothers’ recipes and we grind the fish according to the proportions they give us. And everyone’s grandmother’s is the best.” Wulf’s sends customers home with the fish bones for making the poaching stock (but order your fish ahead).
If you want homemade gefilte fish but don’t want the bother, Inna Khitrik, owner of Inna’s Kitchen in Newton Centre, is making it. “My mom makes it from the whole fish. This year she will be using a combination of carp and some other white fish,” says son Alex. They sell for $3 each (orders for Passover Seder nights are closed, but Inna Khitrik will be making fish and other specialties after the Seders for the rest of the holiday).
Advertisement
Brue Lynn, of Lexington, has a favorite gefilte fish that he prepares at home, but not from scratch. He uses a frozen loaf, Ungar’s Gefilte Fish, available in several area supermarkets in the frozen section. He simmers it with carrots and onions. “It is very light and fresh tasting,” says Lynn. But could his grandmother tell he didn’t make it? Wulf’s Fish Market, 407 Harvard Avenue, Brookline, 617-277-2506; Inna’s Kitchen, 19 Pelham St., Newton Centre, 617-244-5345. DEBRA SAMUELS