Rosh-a-Shana is coming soon. We have been long preparing for meeting the new 5,771 year. On September 5 we held a contest on cooking the best stuffed fish - Gefilte Fish. We had seven teams. Frankly speaking, to have seven dishes of staffed fish is a rare holiday!

Hesed Director Innesa Chugainova, Teacher Anna Sailyants, and Volunteer Rimma Silukova were the jury. They asked all the teams to tell the audience how they had made such a miracle and share their secrets.

Liliya Shparberg, "I have lived a long life. I cook the fish in the same way as my mother and mother-in-law did. One of the secrets - to prevent fish from sticking to the bottom I add a little water. I do not add vegetables as I believe they diminish the fish taste. I only put onion peels on the bottom. Also, I do not mince all the fish, only its back where many small bones are located. My grandmothers cooked gefilte fish this way".

The youth club was presented by Nastya Ezhova and Nastya Borovikova. The girls said that they also used the secret of their grandmother and it is a traditional Jewish way of cooking - chopping the minced fish.

Professional chef Lyubov Khasis was been working in Hesed Polina for a long time and cooking for our clients every day". I was taught by old Jews in Odessa catacombs. My secret is to have a little of fish, a little of salt and 40 years of cooking experience..."

Our youngest participants were the team of teenagers. When asked where she got the recipe Zhenya Chugainova said, "My mother gave it to me". The secret is that the onion should be fried before being added to the fish.

Team of volunteers presented gefilte fish cooked by a family recipe of Inna Enina, the leader of our volunteers. Wonderful fish cutlets were decorated with vegetables. The team shared the secret, "there should be two types of fish - the carp and pikeperch".

Trakhimchuk family decorated their fish with a mayonnaise ornament. Their secret is to stew gefilte fish placed on vegetables for no less than two hours".

The Ignatenko family surprised everybody by the fact that fish is always cooked by a man in their family -father Evgeniy. The secret is the following: they cook it as 100 years ago when there were was no mincing machine and fish was chopped by knife.

Yuliya Golandskaya held a contest "traditions and customs" She told about the heading of the year - Rosh-a-Shana holiday and a fish head. She asked everybody about kashrut. Then it was time to announce contest results.

The jury marked every team. Trokhimchuk team - the mother was wearing a headscarf unlike everybody else in the group. They know that in the past a Jewish woman could not be in public with an open head. Ignatenko family - it is very nice that the fish was cooked by a man. Volunteers’ team used different types of fish, which made the dish taste very rich. Young people did a good job. They are acquiring skills from elder generations and they had a good result! Lyubov Khasis made the fish with an exquisite flavor, as delicate as Odessa humor. Young Zhenya Babakina and coryphaeus Liliya Shparberg was an exemplary team. In Jewish settlements there were always skillful and beautiful women as Lilya Efimovna. They taught the young transferring their experience to them. Teenagers have a stunning sense of humor but they should work on their skills. They are young they have time to learn!

Inessa Chugainova summarized results: "Stuffed fish is the flavor of upcoming Rosh-a-Shana. It is hard to choose the winner because each gefilte fish tastes great! We evaluated not only the taste but also kashrut, humor, and presentations. In these nominations the three teams were the best: Shparberg, Trohimchuk, and Ignatenko. But everybody deserved a price, there are no losers".

Lyudmila Starodubova