Jewish holidays tend to fall into two categories. On some holidays we never start eating (Yom Kippur), and on others we never stop eating (most of the rest). Each holiday has its own food that is part of the tradition. However, Jews have been in Diaspora and living among other peoples for nearly two millenium, so even traditional foods vary from household to household depending on what part of the world people's families have been in.

Now, however, new changes are coming. Women no longer spend as much time in the kitchen. Traditional foods which once required much preparation and care can now be purchased out of a bottle, box or jar. A good case in point is gefilte fish. "Gefilte" is the Yiddush word for stuffed. At one time, the chopped fish was stuffed back into its skin for cooking.

In the movie "Gefilte Fish" three generations of the same family show how they have changed the traditional recipe and how they prepare gefilte fish for the family.

The first woman is mother to the second and grandmother to the third. Her gefilte fish requires at least three varieties of fish. It must be chopped by hand. The process is a long one and as she shows us the process we learn about who taught her, why she still goes to all this effort, and how it used to be done. We learn about her mother who would buy live fish at the market and keep them in the bathtub until she was ready for them.

The second women, daughter to the first and mother to the third, makes her mother's gefilte fish, but she might not include 3 kinds of fish if all are not available. She has discovered the joy of a food processor and no longer chops by hand.

The third woman, granddaughter to the first and daughter to the second, is still single. She has no children for whom to prepare. When she wants gefilte fish, she opens a jar and takes a piece.

The three women all reflect on what each does. What does it mean? Will the third woman continue to use jarred gefilte fish when she someday has her own family? What is lost in revising the process? What is gained? How does the recipe change from generation to generation? What does the process say about commitment to family? As with any traditional recipe, there is much to be learned by cooking with someone from another generation whose memories are different.

This is a sweet and poignant movie. I was laughing throughout and I ended up crying because I was so touched. You won't end up with a recipe for gefilte fish, but you will end up wanting to try your hand at making it yourself.

I love this movie and recommend it to everyone. After all, you don't have to be Jewish to be a Jewish mother (but it helps.)

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If you'd like to read a book about Gefilte Fish and the memories that go with it, you might like The Carp in the Bathtub. My review for the book is at http://www.epinions.com/content_90188254852

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12