A
Family Hanukkah Party
By Devorah Stone
(Originally published in Amateur Chef, December '00.)
I start making latkes
-- potato pancakes -- a week before the first night of Hanukkah,
the Festival of Lights. We decorate our house with white and blue
streamers and take out the menorah -- a nine-branched candleholder
-- on the first night. As soon as everyone is
home each evening of the
festival, we gather around our menorah. We sing the blessings
and everyone gets a turn to light a candle. Like
Jewish people around the world, on the first night
we light one candle (and the Shamash, the helper
candle) and every night we add another one. On the last night,
we
light eight candles. We play a spinning top game of dreidel,
in which we
win pennies or buttons.
Every year we have a party
on one of the nights with lots of latkes, an assortment of
salads, rice dishes and lasagna; often,
people bring their own homemade delights. We like a dairy
vegetarian meal, but many other families eat brisket or chicken
on their
Hanukkah party. I put trays of frozen latkes in a hot oven and
put them
out as people gobble them up. The children strike a piZata made
in the
shape of a dreidel and filled with small toys, eat chocolate
coins, and
play the dreidel game. We all light the menorah and sing songs.
A
special cake tops the evening.
Hanukkah commemorates
the Maccabean victory over Antiochus of Syria. The
Maccabeans were a small group of shepherds and farmers who fought
for
their religious freedom. The small band defeated a large army.
After
their victory, only enough ritually prepared oil was left to
light the
temple menorah for one night. A miracle happened and the oil
lasted for
eight nights and days. Hanukkah is the festival of lights and
a
celebration of miracles.
At Hanukkah, little things
matter. The lowly potato becomes a seasonal
treat. The Hanukkah winter feast is prepared from basic everyday
foods.
Jewish people fry latkes in oil to remember the miracle of oil.
Hanukkah
food is comfort food. It warms the soul on long winter nights,
like the
lights of the menorah light up the darkness of the winter solstice.
This year, Hanukkah starts on the night of December 21.
Jewish families the world
over have their own customs. European Jews
eat latkes. The Spanish brought the potato to Europe from the
Peruvian Andes in the sixteenth century. Jewish people in the
Pale settlement of Russia started to grow potatoes in the
seventeenth century. Potatoes were easy to grow in small lots
on poor soil.
Jewish cooks soon learned many ways to cook and bake this most
versatile
of vegetables. Here are some tips and facts for latke-making:
• Russet or Yukon
Gold potatoes are the best for traditional fried
latkes.
• Draining the grated
potatoes is essential to making crispy
latkes.
• Your potatoes
won't turn brown if you use a bit of liquid Vitamin C to coat
the potatoes and make
them one batch at a time.
• Latkes were originally
a Ukrainian recipe. Ukrainian cooks fried
them in goose fat but North American cooks usually fry them in
vegetable
oil or shortening. I use Canola oil.
• Latkes are a side
dish, breakfast food, snack, lunch or a light
dinner or dessert. Whatever you want them to be!
• Serve them with
apple sauce, cinnamon, brown sugar, jam or
sour cream.
• No host wants
to be in the kitchen for the entire party. Luckily,
latkes freeze well in a sealed bag; just put them in a 400-degree
oven
for a few minutes before serving.
• Some latke fans
swear hand-grated latkes taste better than latkes made with
electric graters, but most people won't notice
if you
cheat. I can't tell the difference.
• Have a latke-making
party and tell your guests to be prepared
to grate and fry. You can organize your guests to handle chopping,
mixing
and frying tasks.
• Kids love helping
make the latkes and eating them. Let your
children help you measure out the ingredients and mix the batter.
Carefully supervise young children around electric graters and
frying
pans.
Here are three variations on the traditional latke recipe:
1. Potato and Zucchini Latkes
The tried-and-true traditional
potato latke, but with a bit of zucchini
and green onions for color and taste.
• 2 large Russet
potatoes, peeled and grated
•
½ small zucchini, peeled and grated
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
•
½ cup of flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Oil for frying
Squeeze the liquid from
the grated potatoes and zucchini, separately. Mix them together
and squeeze them again. Add the finely chopped
green
onion, eggs, baking powder, oil, salt and pepper to the grated
vegetables. Add the flour while mixing. In a deep frying pan,
pour 1" oil. Wait until oil is smoking, then
drop a spoonful of mixture in the
oil. Adjust temperature of oil as needed. Turn over latkes when
golden
brown. Place latkes on paper towels to drain oil. Serve hot or
freeze
when cool.
2. Yam Latkes
Yam latkes are a healthful,
colorful alternative to plain potato latkes.
Yams are low in fat and rich in vitamin A, potassium and beta-carotene.
• ¼ water
• 1 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 grated large yam
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. ginger
• Oil for frying
Mix water, flour and eggs
separately. Squeeze liquid from grated yams;
add ground cloves and ginger. Stir together flour mixture with
grated
yams until there's an even consistency. Form mixture into 3" patties.
Fry
in 1" oil in a large frying pan, turning over as they turn
brown. Adjust
temperature as needed. Place patties on paper towels to drain
oil. Serve
hot.
3. Oven Potato Balls
For those who don't like
deep-fried foods and don't like grating, here's
an oven-baked potato ball recipe. It still has oil in it so it's
in keeping with the Hanukkah tradition. This is a great recipe
to make with children.
• 4 medium white
potatoes
• 3 T. vegetable shortening
• 2 T. minced dehydrated onions
•
½ tsp. salt
•
1 ½ cups dry bread crumbs
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
Boil potatoes until just
tender. Set aside until they cool down to room
temperature. Mash the potatoes until they are an even consistency.
Add softened
vegetable shortening, onions, salt and bread crumbs to mashed
potatoes.
Stir or mush up with clean hands.
Using your hands, form
the potato mixture into balls about the size of a small
egg. Then brush egg mixture over each ball. Bake in a preheated
oven at
425 F. for 20 minutes or until brown.
Menorah Cake
People's eyes pop out
and their mouths water when they see the menorah
cake!
• 2 chocolate cake
mixes
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup oil
• Icing
• Cake sprinkles
Bake two cakes separately
in 9" x 13" pans using the
instructions on the
cake mix box. Add a ½ cup orange juice to every 1 cup
of water. Let
cakes cool. Draw out on a piece of paper, the size of one cake,
a
menorah with four and a half candles. Now cut cakes using your
drawing as a
template. Put the two cakes together, horizontally, with the
half candles
touching. The cake will now be in the shape of a nine-branched
menorah.
Using some of the left-over cake, cut out round shapes and put
them
on top of the menorah. Spread icing on cakes; use a different
color for
the "flames" above the menorah shape. Place sprinkles
on each of the
flames and decorate the rest of the cake.
Set the table and enjoy! Chag Samach! Happy Holiday!
