These Crispy, Golden-Brown Latkes Are The Only Recipe You Need For Your Hanukkah Celebration (2024)

FAQs

What is the significance of latkes during Hanukkah? ›

These potato pancakes (called latkes) are meant to symbolize the miracle of Hanukkah, when the oil of the menorah in the ransacked Second Temple of Jerusalem was able to stay aflame for eight days even though there was only enough oil for one day. The symbolism comes in the form of the oil in which latkes are fried.

They weren't eating potatoes. Make your inbox more interesting with newsletters from your favorite Atlantic writers. So what was a latke before the arrival of the potato? Still a pancake, but made from grain—most commonly buckwheat or rye—and fried in schmaltz.

Symbolic Foods in Judaism

On Chanukah, we eat latkes. On Purim, we eat hamantaschen. On Shavuot, we eat dairy foods like crepes and cheesecake. And on Rosh Hashanah, we eat apples and honey.

During the Jewish holiday, eating crispy, fried, slightly oniony potato pancakes represents perseverance, and a little bit of magic. But miraculously it lasted eight days. Centuries after the fact, Jews were told to celebrate by eating foods cooked in oil.

Potato pancakes have a creamy, almost mashed-potato-like center, with a thin, golden, crisp exterior. Latkes, on the other hand, should have a deeply browned crust, with wispy, lacy edges. Latkes also aren't hash browns.

Of course we associate potato latkes with Hanukkah, but in reality latkes descends from Italian pancakes that were made with ricotta cheese. The first connection between Hanukkah and pancakes was made by a rabbi in Italy named Rabbi Kalonymus ben Kalonymus (c. 1286-1328).

The latke is traditionally prepared during the Hanukkah holiday to commemorate the miracle of the oil in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem lasting eight days.

Hash browns are shredded potatoes, fried (or air-fried), til golden brown. They typically remain loose, or in shreds. Latkes, a.k.a potato pancakes, are grated or ground potatoes that are mixed with egged, flour, or other binding agents. They are one piece, like a pancake.

By the way, you don't have to be Jewish or actually celebrate Hanukkah to love latkes. These crispy little potato pancakes make a wonderful appetizer or a great side dish all year long.

Hanukkah foods don't get more iconic than latkes. This bite-size iteration of the crispy potato pancakes makes a great holiday appetizer, and you can top them however you want (say, with sour cream and applesauce, or cream cheese and smoked fish).

What is forbidden during Rosh Hashanah? ›

As with Shabbat, the Torah explicitly forbids work on Rosh Hashanah, as on other major Jewish festivals. Among modern Jews, practices vary. In Orthodox communities, refraining from work on both days of Rosh Hashanah is considered the norm. Among more liberal Jews, some will refrain from work only on the first day.

Favorite recipes and sweet foods are popular choices for families on the first and second nights of Rosh Hashanah. Sour foods are usually avoided. Some people avoid nuts during Rosh Hashanah since the numerical value of the Hebrew letters in the word “nu*t” add up to the same number as the word “sin.”

Tradition says so

Latkes are usually served at dinnertime along with a meaty main, like brisket. Mixing milk and meat at the same meal is a no-no for those who keep kosher, so sour cream would be out as a latke condiment leaving the underdog apple sauce victorious.

Latkes Are a Hanukkah Staple

The tradition traces back to 14th century Italy. According to "The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food," Italian Rabbi Kalonymus ben Kalonymus introduced Italian potato pancakes into Jewish tradition by including them in a poem about Hanukkah in the early 1300s.

The most famous symbol of Hanukkah is the hanukkiah, the nine-branched candelabra which is lit each night, and can often be seen in house windows. Hanukkah celebrations are centred around lighting the hanukkiah, and families will gather to light the candles together.

Hanukkah is a Jewish festival that reaffirms the ideals of Judaism and commemorates in particular the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem by the lighting of candles on each day of the festival.