Fish and family history

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

Family. Gefilte fish and herring. Topics that might not seem inherently linked, but food is, of course, of prime cultural importance, and two very different books pass on some of their authors’ heritage and knowledge to the next generations: Gefilte Fish for Neshama (Neshama Books, 2012) and Russ & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes from the House that Herring Built (Schocken Books, 2013).

At first glance, Gefilte Fish for Neshama is simply a detailed recipe for a special type of gefilte fish, but it is more than that.

“I grew up in Russia in a family where gefilte fish was a savored dish made by my grandmother from scratch, exclusively for special occasions,” writes Vancouver-based writer and Neshama Books publisher Anna Shvets. “After moving to Canada, I was surprised to learn that gefilte fish existed in bottle form. Less shocking, given my affinity for irony, was my encounter with YouTube videos, songs, jokes, and even T-shirts on the subject of gefilte fish. I was amazed to discover that somewhere, in parallel with my world, another world existed – the one in which my favorite and most anticipated holiday dish, the celebratory gefilte fish, was not perceived as an epicurean delight by millions of Jews.”

Epicurean certainly is not a word that most people would associate with gefilte fish, though many Ashkenazi Jews delight in either the bottled or homemade patty version at least once a year during Passover. However, epicurean most definitely is the word to describe Shvets’ grandmother’s version, which takes about four hours to prepare, according to the recipe. That amount of time seems well worth it after having read the pages leading up to the recipe, which is not only explained step by step in words, but also is depicted in this full-color publication with numerous photographs, including several that are not for the squeamish cook.

“In this recipe (à la my Litvak grandmother) a forcemeat is stuffed back into the almost intact fish (skin, bones, and a little meat left on the bones). This version also boasts a bright savory flavor, which is unusual for most Ashkenazi versions of gefilte fish,” explains Shvets, who notes that Litvak-style gefilte fish is peppery, “as opposed to a sweet preparation associated with the Galicianer (southern Polish) Jewish community.”

Gefilte Fish for Neshama contains many other interesting tidbits of information: about the symbolism of fish in Judaism, some of her grandmother’s experiences, and even a brief history of carp and gefilte fish, from Asia to America. Photographs of the landscape of Israel accompany this first section of the book, adding to the publication’s uniqueness.

Gefilte Fish for Neshama ($15.99) is available at amazon.com and chapters.indigo.ca. For more information, visit neshamabooks.com.

Mark Russ Federman’s Russ & Daughters also takes readers back in time, through four generations of the Russ family and their business, from pushcart to landmark. Such success is a rare achievement, accomplished, it seems, with much hard work, some sacrifice and a little luck: an attention not only to the quality of their product, but to their customers as well.

“When my daughters were small, I used to go to Russ & Daughters on Sunday mornings to have them appreciated,” begins Calvin Trillin’s foreword to the book. “Oh, sure, I’d buy some smoked salmon while I was there. I’d get a little whitefish salad. I might buy a smoked trout or two.... Then I’d get some chopped herring. I might treat myself to some pickled lox.... Still, I was there to have my daughters appreciated and in that endeavor I was never disappointed.”

Customers, staff and, of course, family are all featured in Russ & Daughters. Federman provides endearing snapshots of the people – and even the products – that have contributed to the appetizing store’s longevity. He relates the history of the store (opened on Orchard Street in 1914, and located at 179 East Houston since 1920), the neighborhood (New York City’s Lower East Side) and the family (from Grandpa Russ to daughter Niki) matter-of-factly and with humor, providing many details but not getting bogged down in them.

His grandfather, Joel Russ, came to America from Germany in 1907, when his sister, Channah, sponsored him. Her husband, Isaac, had established a herring stand to support his family of eight children; however, Isaac decided he wanted to become a talmudic scholar and, therefore, Channah needed someone to manage the business. “By 1909, Joel had earned enough to pay back his sister the twenty-five-dollar immigrant sponsorship fee. With his remaining profits he struck out on his own, starting with a visit to a matchmaker. He and Bella Spier, a simple peasant woman from the Galician shtetl of Skole, were married shortly thereafter.” After losing their first child in the 1910 typhoid epidemic, they had three daughters: Hattie (1913), Ida (1915) and Anne (1921).

“By 1935, with two of his daughters running his business right alongside him and the third soon to follow, Joel Russ renamed his store Russ & Daughters,” writes Federman. “Joel Russ wasn’t a feminist, but he recognized two things: first, that it was indeed his daughters who had helped him grow his business and keep his store; second, that the name Russ & Daughters would be a good marketing tool. Of the twenty or so other appetizing shops in the neighborhood, some were ‘So-and-So & Sons.’ Only Joel Russ had a sign that read ‘& Daughters.’ When his daughters married, their husbands worked in the store, too, and eventually became legal partners in the business. But the sign would never be changed.”

Federman is one of Anne and Herbert’s three children. He gave up a career as a lawyer in 1978 to run the business, which he did with the help of his wife, Maria. “If this was something of a disappointment to my parents, who had worked so hard to send me to college and law school, they didn’t let on,” shares Federman. “They actually seemed relieved; they had no other exit plan.”

In 2009, after more than 30 years, Mark and Maria sold Russ & Daughters to their daughter Niki (their son Noah is a surgeon) and nephew Josh. Each new generation of ownership brought with it a new sense of how the store should be run, and the newest owners brought computer technology to the inventory side, gave the store an Internet presence and introduced new products – Federman writes with candor about his misgivings (about things like a sandwich called the Super Heeb and a $65/person herring-spirits pairing event), how the younger generation proved him wrong on more than one occasion, and his hope for the future.

Russ & Daughters will make you chuckle. It will make you nostalgic for a place and time you never knew. And it’ll make you a little hungry, if not for the fish, then for the host of other products Russ & Daughters sells, from bagels and cream cheese to dried fruit (both dipped in chocolate, and not) to rugelach and halvah.

Russ & Daughters ($30), which has at least one recipe at the end of each chapter, as well as several pages of full-color photos that will make fish-eaters salivate, is available from amazon.com, chapters.indigo.ca and other booksellers.

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