The Latke’s Back Story

by Ted Merwin
Special To The Jewish Week

For most American Jews, Chanukah simply wouldn’t be Chanukah without potato latkes. But as Noshing is Sacred continues to learn, many Jewish food traditions are of comparatively recent origin. Since the potato was first brought back to Europe by Spanish explorers in the late 16th century, it could hardly have featured in Chanukah observances before that time. So what did Jews of earlier times eat for the Festival of Lights?

To shed some light on the history of Chanukah foods, we caught up with Rabbi Gil Marks, author of “The World of Jewish Cooking” and the
vegetarian cookbook “Olive Trees and Honey.” Marks traces the idea of eating pancakes for Chanukah to Italy, where the medieval Italians
cooked them with ricotta cheese.

“Food concepts

tend to flow through Italy,” Marks informed me. “And since Jews tended to fry in the cheapest available kosher fat, the Italian Jews used olive oil, which is actually what the word latke is derived from.” A check of an online dictionary confirms that Marks is right: “latke” comes from the Ukrainian word for pancake, “oldka,” which is itself rooted in the Greek word “eladia,” the plural of “eladion,” meaning “a little oil,” “a little oily thing,” or “a young olive tree.” The tradition of eating cheese for Chanukah is often explained by reference to the post-biblical story of Judith, who served salty cheesecakes and wine to the Assyrian general Holofernes before beheading him. She later became conflated with one of the daughters of Judah Maccabee, thus neatly tying her to the story of the Hasmonean dynasty.

In Poland and the Baltic states, however, it was too difficult to obtain fresh cheese in the winter, not to mention that the primary frying agent was goose fat, which could not be used to fry dairy foods. (This was also the reason, Marks noted, why applesauce became used as an alternative to sour cream as a latke topping.) They thus turned to buckwheat, such as what the Russians used for blini, and thence to potatoes.

Other foods also became typical for Chanukah, including roast goose in Alsace and parts of Germany and brisket in Eastern Europe. Bonny Wolf, who covers food for National Public Radio and is the author of “Talking With My Mouth Full,” has noted that Austrians eat deep-fried schnitzel (breaded meat) for the holiday, while Moroccan Jews incorporate deep-fried chicken in their Chanukah couscous.

In Israel, of course, it is the sufganiyah, the jelly doughnut, which is consumed not just for Chanukah but also for the entire month that leads up to the holiday. Israelis have a seemingly endless appetite for the sugary treat, which was invented by a 15th-century pastry chef in Nuremburg. Indeed, Angel Bakeries, the largest bakery in Israel, fries a quarter million of them every day during each of the eight days of the holiday. The Sephardic version of this is zelebi, a deep-fried dessert shaped like a snail; we would probably call it a funnel cake.

Frying in oil may be de rigueur for Chanukah, given that the holiday is typically celebrated by telling the apocryphal story of a small cruse of oil that miraculously burned for eight days when the Temple in Jerusalem was recaptured from the Greeks. Also, as Gloria Kaufer Greene, former food editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times and author of “The Jewish Holiday Cookbook” told me, Ashkenazi Jews typically fry main dishes, while Sephardic Jews fry side dishes and desserts. (Her tip for making latkes: refrain from salting the batter, since it tends to draw out the liquid. Salt only the finished latkes, as you would French fries.)

Today’s gourmet chefs, many of whom are inspired by Sephardic Jewish cuisine, have looked for healthier variations on the theme. These range from baking latkes and doughnuts rather than frying them, making potato latke “muffins,” or using sweet potatoes and other vegetables —including celeriac and parsnips — instead of white potatoes. But Jeff Nathan, executive chef of Abigael’s on Broadway, cries “Enough already!” when it comes to what he calls “bastardizing traditional foods by turning something simple into something complicated.” A sweet potato latke, he insists, “never gets crisp.” One of the reasons that frying has a “bad rap,” he adds, is that many cooks don’t wait for it to get really hot; food fried in oil that is not hot enough will soak up the oil like a sponge. For the same reason, he warned, cold food should not be placed in the pan, nor should the pan be overcrowded.

Nathan does, however believe in experimenting a bit, including trying out different sauces, such as a smoked salmon, caper and onion vinaigrette, or an apple pear relish with cilantro and apple cider. Even for a standard applesauce, he combines four different apple varieties, each with its own distinctive flavor and texture.

And his latkes? He prefers beets and zucchini, using only a little russet potato for the starch. Or he makes a batter composed of three-fourths Yukon golden potatoes and one-fourth purple potatoes. “Don’t add too much egg and flour,” he cautions, “or you’ll turn the pancake into a kugel!”

Jeff Nathan’s Apple Pear Relish and Winter Cider Drizzle

Apple Pear Relish
Yield: 1 ½ cups

¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup roasted Poblano pepper, peeled and seeded (about 1 pepper)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons lime juice, about 1 lime
2 tablespoons apple cider
2 teaspoons New Mexican chili powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 Fuji apple
1 Bartlett pear
½ medium red onion
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Place the cranberries in a small container and cover with hot water. Set aside and allow to plump for at least 20 minutes. Drain and discard the water when done.

Using a pair of long handled tongs, hold the Poblano pepper over the flame of a stovetop burner. Turn it as necessary to char all of the skin. Place in a small bowl and tightly cover with plastic wrap. Set aside and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard the stem, charred skin and seeds. Do not do this under running water. EXPLAIN? Roughly chop the roasted pepper into small dice ??. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the apple cider vinegar, lime juice and apple cider. Add in the chili powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

Cut the apple and pear into eighths; discard the stems and seeds. Place the fruit, plumped cranberries and red onion in a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Add the chopped fruit to the bowl and stir to coat the fruit in the spiced apple liquids. Add in the chopped Poblano pepper, cilantro and olive oil. Using a rubber spatula, stir well to combine.

Set aside until ready to serve.

Winter Cider Drizzle
Yield: ½ cup

1 cup apple cider
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon honey

In a small saucepot combine all ingredients. Place over low-medium flame. Heat until simmering and allow the volume to reduce by half.
Remove from fire and allow to cool.

Note: The Apple Pear Relish and Winter Cider Drizzle can be made up to two days ahead of time. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.