WHY LATKES?

Nathan, Joan

WHY LATKES? JOAN NATHAN Sholom Aleichem relates in his famous story, Chanukah Gelt, "Can you guess, children, which is the best of all holidays? Chanukah, of course ... you eat pancakes every...

...Serves 8. Delicious with applesauce and potato latkes...
...Later, I tried making Mimi's latkes...
...This potato pancake, already used by the Ukrainians with goose for Christmas, seemed a good and relatively inexpensive choice...
...Allon, upon lighting the Chanukiah, remarked that had the Maccabees not been victorious over Antiochus of Syria over 2100 years ago, and had they not found the sacred oil which miraculously lit the Temple menorah for eight days, we would not be here today—and then who would eat the latkes...
...The symbolism behind the pancakes is three-fold...
...Everyone has an opinion about latkes, but few really know how to make them well...
...this should be returned to the potato-onion mixture...
...Although Mimi insists hand grating is best, I find the Cuisinart grater works almost as well and is less painful...
...Some prefer pepper...
...Sauerbraten a la Nathan 2 teaspoons salt 3 tablespoons brown sugar 1 cup chili sauce 1 1/2 cups white vinegar 2 teaspoons seasoning salt 5-pound brisket of beef, shoulder roast of beef, chuck roast or end of steak 1 cup chopped celery leaves 2 sliced onions 1. Mix salt, brown sugar, chili sauce, vinegar and seasoning salt together...
...Mimi, who first ate them at home in Brooklyn, bemoans the fact that most restaurants make latkes from dehydrated potatoes or from potato mixes...
...Her favorite combination at Chanukah is potato latkes served with applesauce and pot roast or chicken...
...they cannot be grated in advance as they will blacken very quickly...
...Some add apples...
...They, can be served for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, or even as cocktail party fare...
...Now, less out of filial duty, more from a desire to share still another Jewish gastronomic delight, I present both Mimi Sheraton's latke recipe and my mother's delicious Austrian-Hungarian-Polish-German recipe for Sauerbraten...
...You've given me an idea...
...others, salt...
...The third meaning, added in medieval times, was one I was never told as a child...
...copyright © 1976 by Joan Nathan...
...The Israeli Suf-ganiot are basically raised jelly doughnuts, and probably adapted from these same traditions...
...They can be made from buckwheat or potatoes with a touch of flour...
...Kartoflani Platske" is still the term used to describe a potato pancake eaten in the Ukraine...
...It was in the Middle Ages that it evolved from a distinctly minor Temple festival to a major family one, during which the Shulchan Aruch forbids fasting and mourning and encourages singing and rejoicing...
...According to Mimi, the only really good restaurant latkes to be found in New York are at Sammy's Restaurant on Chrystie Street...
...While grating, you may want to alternate potatoes with onions—a way to prevent the potatoes from turning dark...
...That's just what I'll make this weekend...
...But what exactly is the Chanu-kah-latke connection...
...That's the price to be paid for good latkes...
...Why Latkes...
...3. Mix potatoes with egg yolks, flour, salt and pepper...
...By that time, the Nathans, because of the Inquisition, had left Spain for the Americas...
...Switching from New York Jewish to Washington Israeli, I talked with the Israeli Ambassador's wife, Vivian Dinitz...
...Certainly not...
...It was about that time that the deep-fried sweet emerged which later, in Eastern Europe, became the famous latke that we know and love so well today...
...Latkes have become a versatile delicacy...
...Like the Jews in the Ukraine, their culinary customs were probably taken from the surrounding peoples...
...If your knuckles become scraped, don't be discouraged...
...Cover with the celery leaves and onions...
...Place the meat in an ovenproof casserole, pouring marinade over meat...
...She recalled how, after the signing of the Syrian disengagement two years ago, Henry Kissinger and Yigal Allon were the Dinitzes' guests for the first night of Chanukah...
...When ready to serve, slice and reheat in strained pan marinade...
...The end product should be brown and crisp...
...Moreover,—as contrasted with, say, gefilte fish—every latke lover seems to know how to make these potato pancakes, and has strong opinions about them...
...3. Cover and bake for 5 hours, basting often with marinade, removing cover for the last hour...
...4. Beat egg whites stiffly and gently fold into potatoes...
...5. Heat fat in a skillet so that you have a depth of one inch when it is melted...
...Both of us concur that the blender does an inadequate job...
...2. Preheat oven to 325° degrees...
...Greek women claim their Louko-mades, deep-fried puffs dipped in honey or sprinkled with powdered sugar, are more like the cakes the Maccabees ate, while the Persian Jews prefer Zelebies, snail-shaped deep-fried sweets...
...The latkes symbolize the food the widow Judith served the Assyrian general Holofernes before she cut off his head, thus delivering her people from the Assyrians . (Thus also giving rise to the later-distorted aphorism, "the way to a man's head is through his stomach...
...It is difficult to equal the taste of brown, crisp potato latkes served with homemade applesauce or sour cream...
...Potato pancakes must be made just before they are to be eaten...
...For those of us infatuated (no pun intended) with the gastronomic side of Judaism, Chanukah appears to be the preferred holiday...
...Note: Pancakes are sometimes made without onion or with one grated apple or 2 tablespoons minced parsley...
...JOAN NATHAN Sholom Aleichem relates in his famous story, Chanukah Gelt, "Can you guess, children, which is the best of all holidays...
...According to Webster's (yup, it's really there) it stems from the Russian word "latka" a pastry, probably from obsolete Russian "oladka" or flat cake of leavened wheat dough, which, in turn, is probably from the Middle Greek word "eladion" or oil cake, stemming from "elaion" or olive oil...
...Anyway, it tastes better...
...Originally, Chanukah was merely a festival of lights commemorating the Maccabeean saga...
...When I asked Mayor Abraham Beame's press secretary, Sidney J. Frigand, whether the Mayor likes potato latkes, Sid salivatingly gave me his own recipe, insisting that schmaltz must not be used— it's black pepper and onions that add the extra je ne sais quoi...
...Whether you add apples, parsley, or onion, speed is essential to your preparation...
...Mother is in the kitchen rendering goose fat and frying pancakes...
...Because Chanukah falls at the season when geese are plentiful (you didn't know that...
...Drain on paper towels...
...you eat pancakes every day...
...Mimi's recipe, she revealed, was a hand-me-down from her mother of Austrian-Hungarian-Polish-German extraction...
...Because their daily diet consisted of potatoes and bread, they wanted to include a dish cooked in oil to symbolize the main miracle of Chanukah...
...Serves 6-8...
...Only old potatoes will do because new ones don't have enough starch...
...2. Grate potatoes and onion on a four-sided grater into a bowl and drain in a strainer, pressing out as much liquid as possible with your hands or with a wooden spoon...
...Can gefilte fish, matzah balls, charoset, or even Hamantaschen compare with them...
...Pour over meat and let stand overnight...
...The oil in which the pancakes are prepared symbolizes the cleansing and rededica-tion of the Temple after it was defiled by the Assyrians...
...others, onions or parsley...
...Maybe because with too many, you platske...
...The Eastern European origin of latkes becomes apparent in the contemporary distinction among the Ashkenazic and Sephardic communities celebrating Chanukah...
...It was, after all, not until the Sixteenth Century that potatoes were discovered, brought from Bolivia and Peru, the cradle of potato civilization, to Western Europe...
...They can be eaten plain or fancy, with sugar, applesauce, sour cream, or even with chicken soup...
...Latke addict Mimi Sheraton, New York Times Food Editor and restaurant critic, eats latkes year 'round...
...Made initially of flour and water, they served as a reminder of the food hurriedly prepared for the Maccabees as they went to battle before their military victory...
...There is no easy way to make potato latkes," Mimi insists...
...The German Cookbook, Mimi Sheraton, Random House, 1965...
...Good latkes need to be grated by hand...
...schmaltz or goose fat was an obvious substi- tute for the original olive oil...
...Joan Nathan writes widely on food and cooking, and is the author of The Flavor of Jerusalem...
...By the time we had finished our conversation, Mimi had worked up a latke appetite...
...The latkes signify the victory of her chastity and humil- ity over the lust and pride of Holo-fernes, who would have conquered the Jews had Judith not fed him so well and given him so much wine that he fell asleep...
...How about that for s-i-g-n-i-f-i-c-a-n-c-e...
...To keep potatoes warm transfer to a shallow pan lined with brown paper in a 250° oven...
...How has the food come to wag the festival...
...4. Best prepared in advance so that fat is easily skimmed from surface...
...And then, of course, there are the purists who contend that only old potatoes will do...
...The word "latke" is not, as is popularly assumed, Yiddish, but Russian...
...Reserve liquid and let it settle...
...Edgar Nathan III, president of the Spanish Portuguese Synagogue of New York and descendant of one of the first American Sephardic families, does not like latkes and cannot remember a latke tradition in his family...
...It is the same food that the Jews, living in the Pale of Settlement in the Seventeenth Century, probably adapted for Chanukah...
...Sephardim have their own Chanukah traditions, however...
...Allow one hour per pound for roasting...
...One will swear by a medium grater, another by the larger variety...
...Pour away potato liquid but do not throw away the starchy sediment that has settled at the bottom of the bowl...
...And you thought they were just pancakes...
...They were the best I'd ever tasted...
...When I finally reached hizonner, a man not generally regarded as one of the world's more discriminating gourmets, he, too, appeared to have strongly defined tastes: potato latkes go best with roast breast of beef, matzah meal latkes with boiled beef...
...Drop potato mixture into hot fat—about 2 tablespoons per pancake and smaller for cocktail size—fry, turning once so pancakes are a deep golden brown on both sides and crisp inside...
...Mimi Sheraton's Potato Latkes* 7 or 8 medium old potatoes 1 large onion Starch from potato water 2 eggs, separated 2 tablespoons flour, potato flour or matzah meal 1 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon white pepper Crisco or Mazola oil for frying 1. Peel potatoes and keep in cold water until ready for use...

Vol. 2 • December 1976 • No. 3


 
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