Gefilte fish is the classic Shabbat appetizer. Whether you make it from a frozen loaf, extract it from a glass jar of jellied goop, or traditionally cook it from a carp that swam around a Lower East Side bathtub, nothing quite screams Jewish, Ashkenazi cuisine in the same way.
And I haven’t made it for years.
Not because I don’t like it. I enjoy it at other people’s homes. I seek it out at my shul’s kiddush, too. But I haven’t made it or served it in a good, long while.
I discovered this radical idea: Shabbat lunch appetizers are unnecessary.
Mains are essential. So are salads. Desserts are MANDATORY.
But gefilte fish, dips, chopped liver, sweet and sour meatballs – no. Serve the meatballs and the liver as part of the main meal. You can even put out some dips. But skip that first course.
Skip the gefilte fish.
We all eat too many calories anyway. We don’t need to use that many plates, whether made of paper or China: One kills the planet, the other gives you too much to cleanup afterwards. We all are cooking too much.
I’ve been hosting company and skipping to the main meal after HaMotzi for years now, and nobody has objected. No one has dropped me as a friend. No one has left my home hungry. (I still serve too much!)
This has been Ann’ s culinary corner, hoping you enjoy your next simpler, Shabbat meal.