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Never a Leftover Latke

December 8, 2007

For the past few years we’ve been throwing a small Hanukkah party for our immediate family. J.’s family sprinkles sugar on their latkes (first time I’d ever heard of that!), and mine goes the sour cream and applesauce route. Since I am especially particular about not mixing milk and meat when my mom is coming over, we have to make it a dairy meal to accommodate the all-powerful sour cream. (Seriously, my dad called me in advance of the party just to check that I hadn’t lost my mind and decided to forgo it this year. Latkes without sour cream is anathema to my family.)

Some years we serve soup with the latkes. I’ve done kugel and blintzes in the past. But a few years ago we’d done a Mediterranean theme that was a hit, so we decided to go back to that since there’s a great new Greek restaurant in our area. We ordered a huge Greek salad, hummus, and melitzanosalata (eggplant dip, similarly prepared to this recipe) from Santorini. The hummus — garlicky, smooth, and thick without being chalky or oily — was a huge hit especially.

Of course, the main attraction (other than donuts for dessert) is the latkes. J. and his mom are the official cooks — I just do the shopping and then get out of the kitchen. There is an intricate series of steps that includes double-grating potatoes and onions, wringing the mix through cheesecloth, and adding in eggs, salt, and matzah meal to create a latke that fries up crisp and delicious without being oily. My husband, he is a master latke fryer, and beware the person who treads in his kitchen while he has all four burners going.

Of course, no matter how many pounds of potatoes we use, there are never any latke leftovers. We take what might as well be the 11th Commandment of Judaism to heart in our house: Thou shalt not run out of food. So about 8 lbs. of potatoes were peeled to make latkes for 9 adults (last year we used 10 lbs., which J. grudgingly admitted might have been overkill). As always, there were no leftovers. When it comes to potato pancakes, it seems impossible to think “Oh, I’m full, I don’t need any more.” It has nothing to do with “need,” obviously. Latkes tend to be a once-a-year thing around here, and our families eat to last themselves until next time. Which leads me to believe that if you have leftover latkes, you have done something wrong.

Topping off the meal are donuts, an Israeli Hanukkah tradition that’s been adopted by American Jews. And aside from a few spoons of applesauce, the only food my boys ate at this meal.

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Filed under: Holidays,Restaurants

Tags: American Jews, eggs, food, Israeli Hanukkah, recipe