Instructions: This is my mothers gefilte fish recipe, which was adapted from her mothers recipe, and is the best gefilte fish Ive ever had in my life. And Ive eaten a lot of gefilte fish in my life. She wrote it down for me a couple of years ago, but like most of her recipes, all measurements are approximate, and written instructions were supplimented with lots of hand motions. If you like sugar, put some in. As you can probably guess, this is an enormous amount of work, and usually takes all of the day before Seder.

The two "secrets" are using salmon, and working lots of air into the fish mixture so that the final product is very light.

Fish: (have the fish market fillet them and give you the bones and skin for broth. At this time of year the fish market will probably grind the fish for you too, which is an enormous time saver.)

Broth: Put above ingredients in the largest pot you own and cover it with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2-3 hours. This should make a fairly rich stock.

Fish Balls: (Sometimes the fish market will grind fish for you. Food processors do not work well for this. The texture is wrong, too mushy.) In a wooden bowl, using a round bladed chopper chop ground fish and ground onions. Use a turning motion, working as much air in a possible. (This is where the visual aids come in handy.) Chop for about 10 minutes. Add matzo meal and spices and keep chopping using the same motions (about 5 more minutes). Beat egg whites until frothy (not stiff) and pour over the fish mixture. Beat egg yolks well, add the very cold water and pour over fish mixture. DO NOT MIX. Chop the mixture, adding more air, until eggs are well worked in.

Strain fish broth and bring back to a gentle simmer. Make balls of the fish mixture (handle as little as possible) and drop gentley in broth. Peel and slice carrots into 1/4 inch rounds and add to broth. Partially cover and simmer for about 2 hours. Turn the balls occasionally if there are too many for them to turn on their own.

When cooked, remove fish balls and place in a single layer in storage containers. Remove carrot slices from broth and put one carrot on each fish ball. Refrigerate.

Bring fish broth to a boil and boil lightly for about 3 hours, or until reduced to 1/3 - 1/2 of its original volume. Pour reduces broth over fish balls and refrigerate until cold and broth has jelled. Serve cold with horseradish.

Serves about 20 people with leftovers.

/FISH

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