Hanukkah—The Festival of Lights

Hanukkah comes early this year—December 2-10. Sometimes the holiday comes later in the month and coincides with Christmas. One of my earliest memories growing up in Miami was driving around the city to look at the beautiful display of Christmas lights.

The Hanukkah tradition is to light the menorah, a 9-candle ceremonial lamp with space for eight candles, representing one for each night of the holiday, and one candle to light the rest. Hanukkah is a festive holiday. Families sing songs, play a game called dreidel—a spinning top— and exchange gifts.

When my children were younger, we would give them one gift each night.  Now that they’re grown and out of the house, we typically give or send them one big gift. In the old days, I remember my grandparents lining up the grandchildren and handing out a dollar each.  Now the money comes in the form of chocolate coins you can buy at the grocery store.

Another favorite Hanukkah memory is eating the traditional potato pancakes or latkes. You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy potato latkes. My sister Elaine makes great latkes. They require a lot of effort, but when done right, they are crispy and delicious. My mother made great latkes when we were growing up. Today, I just buy them out of a box in the grocery freezer section. They’re not nearly as good. It is traditional to top the latkes with a little sour cream and some applesauce. I prefer applesauce and I also like mine sprinkled with sugar. 

This year, I may try something different. My new book, The Saffron Conspiracy: A Novel, will be released Jan. 7, 2019, and is available for pre-order now at The Wild Rose Press. https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/6381-the-saffron-conspiracy-a-novel.html. So maybe a pinch of saffron could be added to the batter? It couldn’t hurt.

Here is my sister’s recipe and a picture of her potato pancakes. Wishing you all a happy holiday season. Enjoy!

Potato Latkes

Ingredients:

1 onion

4-5 Idaho potatoes

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

¼ cup matzoh meal

Salt: 1 teaspoon, then sprinkle more on as they fry

Pepper, freshly ground, several twists

Cheesecloth

Directions:

Mix the salt, pepper and baking powder together with the matzoh meal.

Peel the potatoes and drop them right away into a large bowl of icy water.

Chop onion: Use a food processor. Decide how fine to chop.

Do not drain liquid from the onion.

In a large bowl, crack the eggs and beat (not too much).

Heat large skillets: Cast iron or any good pan. Use more than one to speed up the cooking. Start low, and when almost ready with the completed mixture, raise the heat. During frying, constantly monitor the heat level, starting on medium high, high, then adding the mixture, then turning down to about medium. Then back up to medium high with the next batch, and so on.

Cut the potatoes lengthwise, and in a food processor, using the shred attachment, shred a few at a time. Then, take out the shredded potatoes into a big bowl, put the chop attachment on and put the shredded potatoes back into the processor, then give just a few pulses (5-10), until a nice chopped consistency (not too big, but not too finely chopped, either).

Then put the potatoes into a cheesecloth (in the sink), and squeeze as much liquid starch as you can! Then put the squeezed potatoes right into the eggs and mix around with your hands to absorb the potato mixture.

Then repeat this process until all the potatoes are in the egg mixture.

Add the onions and dry mixture to the egg and potato mixture, and mix: Use your hands.

Add oil to the fry pan(s) and wait until the oil is hot (but not burning). Add mixture by tablespoons, not too thick. Fry in hot oil. Turn when golden Keep adding oil to pan before each new batch. The more oil, the better it tastes.  The first batch never tastes as good as the rest.

By Marilyn Baron

www.marilynbaron.com