Taste the Real Quenelle
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Anne Cohen January 21, 2014
The first time I heard that Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala had adopted the “quenelle” as his trademark, my first thought was that the controversial French comedian had a strange affinity for fish.
That’s because a quenelle, in my mind, refers not to an anti-Semitic inverted Nazi salute, but to a delicious dish from the south of France. A specialty from Lyon, the quenelle is a dumpling-like mixture of minced fish (usually pike) or meat, combined with breadcrumbs, seasoning, butter and eggs, then rolled, poached and served with sauce (often lobster or crayfish-based, replace with dill or red pepper sauce for a kosher alternative).
Wikimedia Commons
Sound familiar? It probably is. Jews may recognize the dish as a lighter, fluffier and more upscale version of a little something known as gefilte fish.
In fact, restaurants trying to take Jewish comfort food up a notch often end up with quenelle on the menu (case in point, Kutcher’s Tribeca in New York).
Even the Anti-Defamation League sees the similarities between the two: in a statement denouncing the anti-Semitic gesture, the quenelle was referred to as “sort of a French version of gefilte fish.”
Comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala is credited with creating and popularizing the gesture now known as quenelle — described by Wikipedia (the source of all knowledge) as “a gesture which is performed by pointing one arm diagonally downwards, while touching that arm’s shoulder with the opposite hand” — in 2009 as part of the electoral campaign of his Anti-Zionist Party.
But the word didn’t make headlines (or Google) until 2013, when a French soccer star Nicolas Anelka, a player for the British team West Bromwich Albion celebrated a goal with the gesture, which he called “anti-establishment” rather than anti-Semitic.
That’s a lot of hidden meaning for one little plate of fish.
Don’t let the haters put you off — try it! Recipe here.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
