What's the point of Falsha Fish?

agreer

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 5:10 pm

Super curious....
why do people make falsha fish for pesach?

I know there's an inyan to eat fish on shabbos, and not everyone eats fish on Pesach....but if you're eating chicken that looks like fish, it doesn't count.

Again...not knocking, just curious if there's a reason.

Ilovemaryland

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 6:21 pm

Its an alta Viznitzer minhag from big Rebbes

I read that in pre war Rumania and other parts of Eastern europe fish was preserved in vodka or other alcohol so it wasnt pesachdik

But if you ate what looked and tasted like fish you or at least the Rebbe would have the same holy thoughts as with real fish.

It was a dish for tzadikim

Maya

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 6:48 pm

I'm not sure of the details, but it's something about the fish having been stored together with chametz and therefore not being okay for Pesach use.

Maya

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 6:50 pm

Ilovemaryland wrote:

Only your second sentence makes sense. What are you talking about in the rest of your post?

Ilovemaryland

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 7:10 pm

I read this years ago

I think the book was called

Stories Ny Father Told Me

Maya

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 7:14 pm

Ilovemaryland wrote:

I read this years ago

I think the book was called

Stories Ny Father Told Me

Apparently a lot of made up stories.
There is nothing spiritual or holy about faltche fish. It was a practicality, nothing more than that. It's continued now because of minhag and mesorah.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 7:22 pm

I've never heard of this before. Google is my friend:
https://www.google.co.il/searc.....&*

So, basically it's just chicken meatballs. What

PinkFridge

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 7:26 pm

Maya wrote:

Only your second sentence makes sense. What are you talking about in the rest of your post?

I'm an almost thoroughbred Litvak (chassidishe line dormant) but I get it. I remember someone very eloquently explaining why farfel is a must Friday night, and while I don't do it (and did for that one Shabbos guest) I think it's nice.

Of course this begs the question, then why not falshe farfel. Ok, gebrochts, but I think a more likely answer is that there is a lot in the literature, aged literature predating chassidus, about basar v'dagim. (Think Yosef Mokir Shabbos.)

ra_mom

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 7:33 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

I've never heard of this before. Google is my friend:
https://www.google.co.il/searc.....&*

So, basically it's just chicken meatballs. What

Yes. I couldn't ever figure it out either until my friend showed me how she makes a broth of sugar, salt, carrots, onion, same amount as with gefilte fish. It looks like gefilte fish and is seasoned like gefilte fish. So I know what it is now but I don't really get it.

Blessing1

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 8:01 pm

Fish used to be preserved in beer so it couldn't be eaten pesach. The people that do it now is just tradition.

MagentaYenta

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 8:11 pm

I don't get the chicken meatballs at all. I should think it's an affordable alternative to fish.

benny

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 8:40 pm

It's a peach minhag from way back when. We don't eat fish on pesach so this is kind of make believe fish served first course like fish.

ariellabella

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 8:58 pm

I'm surprised this is a thing. I wonder if anyone considered the chance that someone might mistake it for actual fish and serve it with dairy.

yonah

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 8:58 pm

Interesting because my grandfather who was from Sighet (though from a misnagdish family) told us they had falshe fish because they were too poor for real fish (Romania is landlocked), and they didn't have it just on Pesach. Didn't know there were other reasons too.

dimyona

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 9:07 pm

Maya wrote:

Only your second sentence makes sense. What are you talking about in the rest of your post?

I think she's trying to express that there's kabbalistic value in eating something that resembles fish, regardless if fish is available (like this concern about chametz).

I get why people don't eat certain foods (because way back when yada yada) but also wondered why someone would choose to cook perfectly good chicken as bland pretend fish dish. I think that's what OP was asking too.

zaq

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 9:29 pm

ariellabella wrote:

I'm surprised this is a thing. I wonder if anyone considered the chance that someone might mistake it for actual fish and serve it with dairy.

unlikely since it would be made and stored in fleishik ware.

agreer

Wed, Apr 05 2017, 10:34 pm

No, I am familiar with the minhag not to eat fish - my family doesn't. I know that the fish used to be soaked in chometz.

My family never, ever did "falshe fish". What is the point of eating something that LOOKS like fish?

If it's an alternative to fish - okay, why not just eat chicken? Why make it look like fish?

So far, the Chassidish thing - to have holy thoughts - seems to be the best answer, but the farfel question was good!

Another mom

Thu, Apr 06 2017, 7:41 am

yonah wrote:

I also thought it was because of economics!!! Even today chicken's cheaper than fish.

myself

Thu, Apr 06 2017, 7:48 am

Is the falsha fish eaten with dips like fish?

To the poster that mentioned that it could be eaten with dairy by mistake -- I doubt that would be a problem as I presume that most of the people who eat falsha fish don't eat fish with dairy anyway, so even if they mistook it for fish it wouldn't be a problem. Besides, it probably doesn't taste like fish either.

kiryat sefer

Thu, Apr 06 2017, 7:56 am

It's a Hungarian minhag to eat / make falsha fish. The source of it, is that back in the day the fish to be kept fresh they kept a piece of bread in the mouth of the fish.
If you think about it, why is kitniyus assur? Potatoe starch cakes look way more like a real chametz cake? Its a mesorah.
Enjoy making falsha fish.