CD, if you use pre-cooked mashed potato it's not a latke. The taste is very different if you make it out of a raw potato.

I came from a potato-growing place, we had 99 recipes for potatoes. Anybody tried stuffed potato? Yummy! Or simple cooked potatoes with herring and onion soaked in oil and vinegar? Darn, 2 more hours till dinner!

Wait a moment! Just waaaaiiiiight a moment! No mentioning of sufganyots in this thread??

This is a lovely thread, makes me miss my MIL (the first and only Jewish cook that fed me well ) and I had to get a Tums to finish reading this

Thanks FainaAgain, I will have to try those, except they sound like a lot more work.

sufganyots--I asked people about donuts but noone seems to eat those at Channukah except my family, Faina...BTW, My family are all immigrants from Belarus (Pinsk)...

My understanding is that the oil is what is connected with chanukah, and in different places, they fry different things.

A significant number of American Jews (myself included) are descended from Eastern Europeans, where potatoes were plentiful and cheap, so the tradition of what to fry in the oil became latkes. We like the grated, rather than shredded, sytle. I think my hoiuse still smells (good) from last night's latkes.

In the Middle East, potatoes are not a major crop, so it became jelly doughnut that were fried in the oil.

But what kind of oil? When I tried to make latkes I used olive oil. Obviously I did not make them correctly, really they were gastly. And I have had latkes that made me want to cry they were so good.

Now some here said peanut oil has to be used. But Faina said olive oil is the correct oil.

Now I am more confused than ever.

oy veh...now you're talking about herring! What fressers you all are!
As far as the oil...I've never used peanut oil, but canola seems to work and it's not bad for the heart. (Don't even mention schmaltz).
Now about that trip we were all talking about....

In my youth it was corn oil or vegtable oil and in Germany sometimes lard. But I use Canola oil now.

It isn't hard but you just need to get the right consistency. Easy to show and hard to explain. Like a lesson I had in Cinque Terra in pesto making. She showed me how to smash basil/garlic with pestle/mortar and it was very different from the way I was doing it.

You squeeze the liquid out with cheesecloth and replace it with matza or very grated breadcrumbs, is a short summary. These latke are tons easier than German potato dumplings with pork renderings, which is the ultimate comfort food of all time. The first time I made those, I was about 11 and I had about 14 lbs out of 20 lbs of potatoes all over every surface in the kitchen. Those must be entirely grated and squeezed almost dry. And after boiling/steamed with pork and carrots they are totally covered with pure melted butter and light milk mixture.

LoveItaly, I sure wish I could show you. You need not give up a child.
I have had in a former residence 15 to 20 teenagers waiting in line for my latke. They grate, I make. In the days before the food processor.

This is also true. I have had TWO serious wedding proposals at entirely different times in my life over my Manocotti and my German Potato Dumplings! Didn't take either, as I am just an independent woman.

You know that one time my Italian/Sicilian just came all the way out and I had to add garlic instead of the grated nutmeg. It's a totally different taste. We love garlic but it is not the same. Try the nutmeg, you will be shocked. It's dying good. Also the 1/2 grated & 1/2 shredded accessory on processor idea in one of the above posters is a very, very good tip. That's about what we approximate but just get there another way. THESE are not like mashed potatoes or hash browns.

We also make homemade applesauce and blueberry sauce from orchard visits in Michigan and the sugar added is minimal. You do not want to hear about that. I use pressure cooker and that was taught to me by pros. Real food is different than processed food.

Regarding the oil-I think peanut oil makes for the crispiest latkes however, we use canola. We had our first of several Hannukah dinners last evening. I forget how great the house smells in the process of cooking those latkes.

The candlelabra story is actually a touching one. There were two which sat on the buffet in my FIL's granparents' home. He had been sent in the middle of the night to England after hitting an SS officer's kid with a bicycle pump. He later would join the English army, change his name and be a member of the troops liberating Bergenbelsen. The two candlelabras were smuggled out of Germany in pieces when the cook came to the US. They were returned to what family members had survived the war and now lived in the US and then put in storage for 50 years. We have one of them and my BIL has the other. It is always lit by the eldest grandchild as part of Hannukah and Passover dinners. We also have salt dishes which were given me by my MIL for a birthday many years ago. They had belonged to the woman who had done a great deal of hard work in the US to help sponsor some of the family who tried to escape in the late 30's.
They get polished and are a part of the family dinners on these occassions as well. It is a bittersweet story and adds to the wonder of how we are all together today. Happy Hannukah everyone!

Happy Hannukah everyone!




p.s. What is the correct spelling?

I use generic Criso to fry latkes.

There is no "correct" spelling of Chanukah in English, because it is the transliteration of a Hebrew word, and there isn't a letter for letter equivalent.

You know, I asked someone. And did look it up. It does NOT work with olive oil. Olive oil comes from the warm climate mediterranean countries and NOT where potatoes have historically been grown.
Latkes traditions come from the country traditions of Eastern and more Northern Europe where potatoes were staples.
Olive oil has too strong of a taste for this and burns at the wrong temperature. Every European says that they use lard / crisco/ pork fat. That makes for lots more animal fat/cholesterol in the finished product.

We make a fried dough dish on St. Joseph's Day, Mar. 19- which sounds like the items mentioned above. They are very Sicilian and called spengi (speen-gee)too long e sounds.

JJ5, PORK FAT for latkes? Now that is definitely NOT a traditional recipe!

Yes, pork fat. It is rendered down and refined (cooked slowly and sifted of fat "renders"- they look like pork rinds only much smaller and crispier-and are a primary center filling ingredient of most East European potato dumplings and are the original "bacon" in kugeli) again and again, and it becomes lard. What you think of as "Crisco" is a modernly made similarity. It looks like very clean pure oil when it is hot, but it is SOLID when it isn't hot, because of its animal fat proportion. The Jewish used other animals, mostly beef, but the biggest majority of non-Jewish populations rendered from pork fat.

You would be very surprised where many traditional ethnic foods originate. These latke are especially a Jewish tradition as they were made from what was the traditional "best" of what was available during the East European diaspora. Vegtable oils are not real common there and I believe that because of dietetic rules they would use beef/veal fat rendered into lard, butter or other oils but not olive oil- which isn't a big commodity in that climate. Sure wish I could ask my grandmother, but she is long gone. My dad is 85 and he may remember what they used when he was a boy in Europe. I'll ask him next time I see him. My Polish student Nurse says at home that they use lard rendered from pork fat for frying everything you fry.

Okay -- you got me! After reading this thread, and realizing that the wonderful latke smell that has lingered around my house since Tuesday evening has now gone away, I decided to cook latkes again for dinner tonight.

Gotta get grating...
Happy Hannukah to all!

Susn

This is the most interesting thread! And I am going to try latkes again (and not use olive oil). Will try frying in Crisco.

Now about the type of potato? Last time (and the only time) I used Russet (baking) potatos. Red potatos are the best to use?

I have not been able to get latkes off my mind since this thread appeared.

Take good care everyone.

Ummmm. The latkes turned out great! I used an electric skillet and fried the latkes in canola oil. I used a thin-skinned "white" potato (NOT the kind you would use for baked potatoes).

4 large potatoes (can be peeled or not), grated
1 small onion, grated
2 eggs, beaten
3 T flour
salt & pepper

After squeezing the liquid out of the grated potatoes & onion, add the eggs, flour, salt and pepper. Heat the oil until hot, spoon heaping spoonfuls into the hot oil and press down slightly with the back of a spatula. When brown on one side, flip over and brown on other side.

Take cooked latkes out onto a plate covered with a paper towel to drain. If making a lot, I heat the oven to 300 degrees, and place cooked latkes on an oven proof skillet to keep hot while continuing to make more.

Serve with sour cream or applesauce.
Enjoy!

Susan

LoveItaly,
I cheat and buy the grated "Simply Potatoes" found by the eggs in the grocery store. They're fresh, not frozen and convenient as heck. I'm not sure what type of potatoes they use. When I did grate them myself, I used baking pototoes, I think. I'd get a 5lb. bag and grate and grate and grate. I've always used plain old cooking oil but mine have never been as crisp as my immigrant grandmother's. I think she may have used Crisco but I'm not positive. I do know she couldn't have used JJ5's suggestion of pork fat b/c she kept a kosher home and pork is not kosher!!!! I bet peanut oil would make some crispy latkes. My friend's parents use Crisco and their are awesome. I may try that next year but it's just so unhealthy! Heck, anything fried is so what am I worried about?

Tell us how your potato pancakes come out ;-)
Debbie

to Seetheworld: Can you freeze your sweet potato latkes? It may be sacriligious but to make it easy I buy the mix and grate a raw potato into it. Does anyone have a tip on how to keep the thick frying oil smell out of your house?