Tonight marks the first night of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Light. Chanukah, also spellt Hanukkah, celebrates the “miracle of the oil” where one day’s worth of oil lasted for eight days after the Second Temple was rededicated during the Maccabean Revolt in the 2nd Century BCE. The Menorah or Hanukkiah has spaces for nine candles, one for each night plus the shammash. The shammash is lit every night and is used to light the other candles, one for the first night, two for the second, and so on. Candles are placed in the menorah right to left but are lit from left to right with the shammash often higher up, either in the middle or off to one side.
To further celebrate the miracle of the oil, oily foods are eaten. The best known of these are latkes (usually pronounced ‘lut-kuz’), made of grated potatoes, which can be made sweet (dusted with sugar and cinnamon) or savoury (often with grated onion), and are shallow or deep fried. Recipe below! Sufganiyot, jam-filled doughnuts, are also very popular with new fillings, such as chocolate or vanilla cream, also becoming available.
Savoury Latkes
Ingredients
- 4 medium potatoes, peeled and grated
- 1 medium onion, grated
- 2-4 tbsp flour (wheat or gluten-free substitute)
- 2 eggs or 4-6 tbsp aquafaba or gram flour
- Salt and pepper
Method
Put the grated potatoes and onion into a muslin bag and squeeze out the excess water. Mix with the flour, eggs (or substitutes), and season well. Heat a pan with approx 2-3cm of oil to medium. Take a scoop of the mixture and either roll into a ball or flatten into a pancake and drop into the oil. Repeat but don’t fill up the pan too much in one go! You may need to do a few batches. Turn over halfway through cooking. The latkes are cooked when they are golden brown and cooked all the way through. Serve hot. You could try mixing different vegetables with the potato, such as carrots, parsnips, or sweet potato for a different flavour. For sweet latkes, leave out the onion and pepper and dust with sugar and cinnamon after cooking.
