Can gefilte fish be saved from extinction?
About 70 years ago the carp immigrated to Israel from Eastern Europe, together with the Jewish pioneers. The fish came straight from its gray and chilly homeland to the blazing hot Beit She’an Valley, achieving a successful absorption in its new habitat and in Israeli stomachs. Around 6,800 tons of carp are consumed annually in Israel, some 1,000 tons at Pesach. Amitai Geva, an Agriculture Ministry fish farming expert and a fish farmer himself, seeks to correct the battered image of the lowly carp. “Its image is unjustified,” Geva says with evident passion. “Thirty years ago its growing conditions weren’t the best, and it was very fatty. Today its nutrient is balanced, and its fat content is just 6.5 percent – less than salmon, mackerel or sardines.” Geva says carp is used not only to make gefilte fish, but also as the base for the spicy, North African hraimeh, “and it’s very tasty grilled or fried.
