whitefish salad

Good deli: Whitefish salad from Ben & Bill's at Slingerlands Price Chopper

I love the word deli, especially when spoken by my older, Jewish, New York relatives. In this world of corned beef and knishes, "deli" is not a store or a glass counter with prepared foods. Deli is sustenance. As in, “I had deli for lunch.” Or, “Pick up some deli on the way home.”

A close friend has a mother-in-law who brings deli every time she comes up from the city. Her visits are always highly anticipated, and I get tortured with phone calls about how said mother-in-law will soon be here with “bags of Jewish fishy stuff.”

That is when I plot to drop by for a visit, because, you know, last time I was over I, ah, forgot my, ah, … pen?

I have a wonderful mother-in-law who supplies me with homemade goat cheese, so I can hardly complain. But there is no chance that she will ever arrive at my doorstep with a bag of Jewish fishy stuff. And because I can only think of so many excuses to invite myself over to visit my friend’s mother-in-law, I’ve been rummaging around our local stores looking for the kind of sustenance that makes you want to pinch someone. Maybe even yourself.

My best find so far is the whitefish salad at the Slingerlands Price Chopper. You have to go to Ben & Bill’s, the Jewish-style deli in the corner behind the salad bar section. The whitefish salad isn’t cheap, $13 something a pound, but a little goes a long way. I usually pick up a small container for around $6.50. It’s enough for at least two sandwiches. Or four of five snacking sessions.

The salad is mostly tasty whitefish with just enough creaminess to cut the salt and bring the rest of the flavors alive. It’s fishy in all the right ways and none of the wrong ones. And it tides me over until I can think of another way to get invited to my friend’s house.

posted April 8, 2009 | link | comments (9)

filed under: Ingredients, Lists, Places, Ben & Bill's deli, Jewish, Slingerland Price Chopper, whitefish salad

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Comments

Honestly, what I wouldn't do for a MIL who kept me supplied in fresh goat cheese!

- by jess on Apr 8, 2009 at 10:58 AM | link

I know the focus of this story is whitefish, but you send me into a reverie every time you mention your mother-in-law's goat cheese! I haven't stopped thinking about it since tasting it last summer. Yummmm....

- by Tania on Apr 9, 2009 at 9:32 AM | link

I tried the whitefish salad at the Saati Catering/Deli in Newton Plaza...at $14.99 a lb...a tad pricey, but very smooth and good...except for a couple of tiny fishbones I found. I'll have to head out to B & B's for my next smoked fish craving.

- by llcwine on Apr 9, 2009 at 9:43 AM | link

This is by far the best presentation of whitefish salad I've seen:
http://lifeofmymouth.blogspot.com/2009/03/gelfite-lox-and-matzoh-oh-my.html

- by jess on Apr 9, 2009 at 3:01 PM | link

After 8 years of living up here, I still am miserable for lack of all things ethnic. But I must say I am thrilled to have stumbled upon your blog by accident some weeks ago. The B&B deli at P.C. is grossly overpriced and at this point I just still continue to make shopping runs down to L.I. for chopped liver, whitefish, lox, knishes, etc. I will never adapt to living here without a Stew Leonard's, Trader Joe's, or a Fairway. Ben & Bill's, as with everything else local, is a disappointment.

- by Leslie on Apr 29, 2009 at 11:08 AM | link

Stew Leonard's kind of scares me - too many animatronic creatures for my liking. My friend Vanessa used to play the cow at the SL's in Yonkers.

- by jess on Apr 29, 2009 at 1:36 PM | link

Saati Deli and Catering uses fresh whitefish, and makes their spread everyday. I will withstand a few bones, to pass on frozen, even canned whitefish.....yuk!!! Saati has great hand cut Nova as well. Fresh lox and cream cheese bagels.....mmm!!!

- by louie on May 10, 2009 at 10:27 PM | link

Sounds great! I will check it out this week. Thanks for the heads up.

- by celinabean on May 11, 2009 at 9:38 PM | link

Louie,
Saati's whitefish salad was only okay IMHO. It needed some finely chopped onion in it, as I felt it was too smooth. I too don't mind the bones. I was rather bummed that they did not have any whitefish chubs that day, I would have bought some to make my own salad.

- by llcwine on May 12, 2009 at 9:05 AM | link

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