Whoever has once tasted pickled carp or pike in a Jewish house and enjoyed the special flavor of this excellent dish, which is substantial enough to provide a meal and savory enough to be the supreme appetizer, will always wish to try this triumph of Jewish culinary art again. But in order to make truly excellent pickled fish the wise cook will allow herself several days for its preparation. Only with the added ingredient of plenty of time can real success be achieved, and if pickled fish is to appear on the Friday evening menu, one had best begin the preparation of the dish on Monday.
On Monday, then choose your fish—silver carp or pike is best—salt it well, allowing about a tablespoonful of salt to a four-pound fish. Let the fish remain overnight with this salt covering, wash it the next morning, and cut the fish into convenient pieces. Then take one pound of onions, provided your fish is about four pounds, slice them, put them at the bottom of the pot, place your fish on this bed of onions, pour over it one glass of cold water and bring to a boil.
As soon as the fish begins to boil, cover the pot and let it continue to cook for twenty minutes. Then remove from the stove, take the fish out of the liquid, add to the latter vinegar which you have first heated, sugar to taste, and let cool.
When cool, stir into the liquid a teaspoonful of mixed spices, place the fish in a glass jar and pour the entire juice, with spices and onions, over the fish. The fish must be covered by the liquid. Should there be no sufficient juice, add water which has been boiled and cooled.
Then cover the jar and let the fish stand for three or four days in a cool place, but not in the ice box, because too quick chilling would impair the flavor of the fish.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
