 These are one of the most delicious foods associated with Chanukah (the Jewish festival of light). They originate somewhere in Eastern Europe and have spread out with the Jews as they have travelled.
In our household they are a traditional part of our Christmas meal as Chanukah is usually sometime in December so we have them with the turkey (instead of roast potatoes). Imagine a fritter made with grated potato and you’ll be close to the mark! “Chag Urim Sameach!”
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Chanukah, the Festival of Lights
Food that is traditional at Chanukah is usually something fried – often latkes or doughnuts (YUM). This is because of a miracle involving oil, which is one of a number of miracles which happened during the Maccabees’ rebellion.
 The most remembered miracle is that when the Maccabees came into their temple which had been desecrated, the everlasting light (this is a light which is on at all times in all Jewish synagogues) only had enough oil left for one day. The miracle was that the oil lasted eight days which is why the festival of Chanukah lasts for eight days and it is traditional to light an increasing number of candles on each of the eight nights.
But the true miracle of Chanukah is that the Maccabees won their battle against the Greeks despite being hugely outnumbered.
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Latkes: makes approx 18-20
(may have been more but difficult to keep track of as they kept being eaten!)
675 g/1.5 lb potatoes
2.5 oz onion peeled and roughly chopped (grated if no food processor)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of pepper
4 level tablespoons self raising flour (4 tbsps plain flour + pinch baking powder)
flavourless oil (eg sunflower) for frying
- Grate the potatoes (food processor is much easier) then place in metal sieve to drain excess liquid.
- Mix the rest of the ingredients till smooth and then add the grated and drained potatoes (if using a food processor, pulse the potatoes into the rest of the ingredients until you have a coarse pulp).
- In a heavy frying pan pour in oil to a depth of half an inch (1.25 cm) and heat.
- When the oil is hot, place in tablespoons of mixture, flattening each with the back of the spoon.
- Cook over moderate heat up to 5 minutes on each side until rich golden brown and cooked through.
- Drain on crumpled kitchen paper then eat.
- If you can resist eating them, they can be frozen and reheated at a later date either by shallow frying, deep frying or in a hot oven (gas mark 8/450F/230C) for 7-8 minutes till crisp.
NB: if you leave the grated potato for more than 15 minutes without using it, it may go an unattractive grey colour but will still be ok to eat.
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