Buffaloed

Re: your Passover edition on April 4 and the subsequent response in the April 15 edition, let me enlighten your readers as to the fish called “buffel.”

It in no way refers to buffalo fish. In fact, it is a Yiddish name for pickerel, which is not found in our fish markets here.

Pickerel was included in the makings of gefilte fish by the Jewish women living in the New York City area. Perhaps they brought the recipe with them as they arrived from Russia, Poland, etc.

My grandmothers’ recipes called for pike, carp, buffel and/or whitefish. Many times the carp was not included because it made the fish quite dark and we all loved the lighter look.

--MURIEL S. BROWN

Laguna Hills