Hanukkah and Potato Latkes

by Patti Breitman

Hanukkah begins this year on Sunday night, December 25. The word חֲנֻכָּה Khanukàh means ‘dedication’, and the holiday commemorates the rededication of the Temple after the victory of the Maccabees in 165 B.C.E. over Antiochus IV, a Syrian tyrant who forbade the Jews to worship their God and wanted them to worship the Greek gods. Hannukah is sometimes called the celebration of faith over tyranny. After the war, the Maccabees discovered that the Eternal Light in the Temple had been extinguished and the Temple desecrated. They immediately rededicated the Temple, but there was only enough oil left to rekindle the Eternal Light and to let it burn for one more day. Miraculously, the lamp continued to burn for eight days, at which time a new supply of oil arrived.

To commemorate the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days, we celebrate Hanukkah by eating foods fried in oil. Potato pancakes (latkes) are a traditional (and addictive) food throughout the eight days of Hanukkah.

Here are some helpful hints for making and keeping potato latkes: Use a mix of canola and olive oil for flavor and to prevent smoking. Always use the ventilation fan and keep windows open. Use inside-out brown paper bags or lots of paper towels to blot the latkes after frying them.

Never stack the latkes, but cool them and store them in single layers. You can refrigerate them for a day or two or freeze them for later use, but be sure to store them only in single layers. (This hint is almost always moot; they never last long enough to refrigerate or freeze.)

Always reheat latkes in a hot oven, never a microwave oven. And even when reheating, do not stack or overlap them; keep them in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Eggs are absolutely not a necessary ingredient. The following recipe is devoid of cholesterol and tastes every bit as delicious as Grandma's latkes. The only difference in a recipe without eggs is that you must place the pancakes a little more carefully into the hot oil.

To make 25 midsize latkes

4 russet potatoes, scrubbed or peeled and quartered
2 large yellow onions, peeled and quartered
1 cup matzoh meal
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
lots of olive oil
lots of canola oil

In a food processor, grate the potatoes and place them in a colander to drain the liquid. You may also squeeze out the liquid in cheesecloth. In the food processor, grate the onions. Mix the grated onion, potatoes, matzoh meal and seasonings in a large bowl. Heat about an inch of oil mixture in a large frying pan. Form the batter into patties and gently place them one at a time into the hot oil. Cook until the edges are brown. Turn over the pancakes with a spatula and cook the other side about one minute or less. Remove them from the pan and place them on brown paper bags or paper towels to drain some of the oil. Enjoy!

—from our November-December 2005 Newsletter

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