Potato Latkes – Happy Hanukkah
Hanukkah comes but once a year and after a happy time cycling and eating in The Holy Land less than a month ago, it is with great pleasure that I write this typical Hanukkah recipe and wish anyone reading this blog a very Happy Hanukkah.
For my Israeli readers please skip my brief hisory lesson and scroll down to the recipe below, but for those out there who don't know about this most important of Jewish holidays here goes The Hungry Cyclist potted Hanukkah history lesson…
In about 165 BC a small Jewish army gave the Greeks a good old biblical bashing allowing them to re enter Jeruslalem. However once back in their Holy city they renetered the temple to find that it had been trashed. Even the holy oil used to fule the eternal flame of the Menorah (the seven branched candelabra) All the returning Jews could find to light the temple was a tiny amount of this holy oil which consequently and miraculously kept the Menorah alight for eight days. This story gave rise to the two most important traditions of the holiday.
One; the keeping alight of the Menorah for eight days during Hanukkah. And two; the eating of foods fried in oil. Admitedly in these days of cholesterol-counting health enthusiasts this may sound like a tall order, but in my opinion an eight-day holiday of fried food sounds just perfect and so here is a very simple recipe for Potato Latkes. A type of fried potato cake simialr to a rosti. They are great served with any meat and I had the pleasure of eating my last one under a perfect pan seared duck breast.
- 4 potatos, grated
- 2 small onions, grated
- 1 carrot, grated
- 3 eggs
- salt and pepper
- pinch of nutmeg
- vegatable oil for frying
1. In a large bowl squeeze the poato, carrot and onion and mix thourley. Plenty o excess water will come out and this needs to be drained away.
2. Now mix in the eggs and spices.
3. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan. Heap tablespoons of the mix into the pan and pat down a little to form pancakes. (you can use a potato ring for this) Fry for 2 minutes or until golden brown and then flip over. Drain on a paper towel and serve hot.
This entry was posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 18:10 and is filed under Israeli Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed or trackback from your own site. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
