NEW YORK, July 20 (JTA) — The following are tips to make sure the fish you serve at your Rosh Hashanah table is fresh and attractive:
• Purchase fish at kosher markets. Nonkosher purveyors may co-mingle crustaceans among fish with scales, rendering them treif.
• A fresh fish is not fishy and should actually smell sweet. Fish with the odor of cat food is too old to be sold.
• When preparing recipes calling for ground fish, ask the market to fillet and chop the fish.
• When buying boned fish, ask to see the fish before the purveyor fillets it. Look for clear eyes. Cloudy sunken eyes indicate a deteriorating fish.
• Raw fish is perishable and must be refrigerated. During preparation, do not leave it on counters any longer than necessary, especially on hot days.
• Wash utensils thoroughly after they touched raw fish.
• To insure success in recipes calling for a jellied broth, add a package of plain vegetable gelatin to simmering liquid.
• Serve fish on an attractive platter garnished with lettuce, parsley sprigs, steamed carrot slices or cherry tomatoes.
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.
