When Jews gather around the table for the Passover Seder, the ritual meal will likely begin with an oval-shaped appetizer, often mounted on a single leaf of lettuce or a bed of parsley, and crowned with a boiled carrot medallion. Meet gefilte fish, a culinary connection to the shtetls, the ancestral towns of many Jews of Eastern European origin.

“Gefilte” means “stuffed” in Yiddish, and originally the forcemeat was stuffed into whole fish, such as pike or carp. Today, the fish is usually deboned, chopped and/or ground and mixed with matza meal, onion, eggs and seasonings, then shaped into oval balls that are poached in fish stock. Over generations, gefilte fish has picked up flavors and versions as Jews have wandered the world. In Poland, gefilte fish is sweet; in Lithuania, it is peppery. In modern Brooklyn, gefilte fish can be found made with sustainably-raised fish, quinoa and micro arugula, and served with a global array of flavors: Asian (with soy or teriyaki sauce); Moroccan (with turmeric and chickpeas); Mexican (with jalapeños), and Indian (with mangoes and tamarind).

Like many ethnic foods, gefilte fish arose out of poverty and need. It was first created by Ashkenazi Jews (Jews of European origin), who relied on it to feed their families. 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.

Like the Maxwell House Haggadah, gefilte fish is the stuff of Jewish legend that Jews carry with them from one generation to the next.

[Excerpted from an article by Kimberly Winston and Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service]