Hanukkah, Latkes and Dad

The Festival of Lights, the famous minor Jewish holiday that grew in prominence during the 50s and 60s when secular Jews in America had to figure out how to fight Christmas envy amongst their children. I love it. Materialism at its finest.

But on a happy note, my dad was back from Berlin in order to kick off the first night of the holiday with me, complete with candle lighting, long winded histories of the holiday and my favorite of favorites: Latkes. Due to an unfortunate oversight on my part there was no dreidel playing or Hanukkah gelt involved, but next year, next year for sure.

Now for those who don't know and love latkes the way I do, let me tell you, they are fantastic. They come in all shapes and sizes and under a variety of names. For instance Germans call them Kartoffelnpuffer. Depending on the recipe they can resemble hash browns, more of a mashed potato type of consistency, or light fluffy potatoey goodness. Everyone loves the way their family makes them and it's practically sacrilegious to defect from the family tradition to another method of preparation. But one thing remains the same regardless of what the recipe is, they are all fried in immense amounts of oil. Delish!

So to all those out there celebrating 8 days of fried goodness, candle lighting and good old fashioned gift giving I say, Happy Hanukkah!

And in the spirit of goodwill, I share my grandmother's Latke recipe:

2 large Russet Potatoes
1 medium Yellow Onion
a pinch of Salt
1 T of Flour
1 Egg (Optional and totally dependent on the consistency)

Canola Oil for Frying

Peel the potatoes and the onion. Pop both ceremoniously into a blender. Blend until completely pureed. Add a pinch of salt and the flour.

Pour enough oil into the pan so it is about 1/2" to 3/4" deep and heat the oil until it shimmers. Test a small spoonful of the potato batter to make sure it is hot enough (The batter will immediately sizzle when it is). Make sure that the oil does not start to smoke!

Spoon the potato batter into the oil, about 2 tablespoonfuls per pancake. Fry on both sides until golden.

Serve with sour cream or apple sauce depending your preference.

**Note: Latkes can be kept warm in a 140°F oven while frying all the batter.