Salmon Gefilte Fish Mold with Horseradish and Beet Sauce

For centuries, Jewish women schlepped to the fish market, choosing the best fish “by the look in its eyes” before transforming it into the quintessential Sabbath gefilte fish. Using a wooden bowl and a half-moon-shaped chopper, they cut up the fish with onions, crying a little, chopping a little, until the mix was just the right consistency, later to be shaped into ovals or balls and poached in fish broth. Today, cooks often turn to commercially prepared frozen loaves of ground fish, sometimes even spiked with jalapeños or almonds and raisins. These new, more American flavors are rapidly replacing the more distinctively fishy blends made from carp, whitefish, and pike, and have a smooth texture that indicates they have never felt the blade of a hand chopper.
Although gefilte innovation like the first jarred fish and the frozen loaves are taking over now, I still, as with many things, prefer the taste of homemade that I make twice a year for Passover and Rosh Hashanah. Before Passover, at what we call a “gefilte-in,” friends assemble in my kitchen with their own pots, fish, carrots, eggs, and matzo meal to make these old-fashioned fish patties. For Rosh Hashanah, I make a light, circular fish terrine that looks beautiful and has the components of gefilte fish, but is much easier to make, baked in a Bundt or tube pan in a bain-marie. This is also a great make-ahead recipe, as it requires several hours of refrigeration before serving. Turned out onto a platter and featured as one of many foods at a buffet, it is always a big success. Even those who swear they would never eat gefilte fish come back for seconds, provided you serve horseradish sauce with it.