My ancestors are German and Russian (Jewish actually, but we're all Christian now). That means my mom has a really interesting family cook book. We always had fruit (berry) dumplings simmered in milk and butter that we called "gafilda" -- but the only food word even close to that is gefilte. Can anyone solve my mystery?

Gefilte fish is a famous Yiddish dish (often cooked around Passover) that is commonly referred to as "Jewish fish balls." But the word "gefilte" in Yiddish just means "stuffed" -- because they used to mince the meat and re-stuff the fish skin with it for boiling.

Czech fruit dumplings appear to be whole plums or whole peaches wrapped in dumpling dough and boiled, then served with sprinkled sugar. German fruit dumplings are more like a pastry or cobbler. Polish and Russian fruit dumplings are much, much closer.

My mom's family cookbook says to boil them in water first, then drain off the water, add milk and butter and let it simmer for a long time. Then it's served in the milk and butter. They don't look anything like the photo, by the way.

Does anyone know this? Is it Polish? Is it Jewish? Is "gefilte" a proper name for it?

 

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