A Taste of Hannukah

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

A tradition for many centuries, candles and menorahs are lit around the world during the eight-day celebration of Hanukkah. Family and friends gather for feasting, fun, stories and games. And, of course, potato latkes fried in precious oil.

While we’re not Jewish (and we don’t have any close friends that are Jewish either), we do read together. And reading together opens up new viewpoints and passageways to cultures previously unknown. Such was the case when we read Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story by Fran Manushkin. Not only was it a touching story that gave a glimpse—albeit old-fashioned—into the heart of a Jewish family, it provided a recipe at the end which was truly an open invitation to getting kids cooking in the kitchen. And I just love a story with a recipe at the end. Plus this recipe was delightfully simple while it encouraged the learning of new skills: from the grating of vegetables to the scooping and frying of patties in oil.

We didn’t have any matzoh meal on hand as the recipe originally called for—but no worries. In the interest of striking while the iron was hot (yes, making these when the kids still actually cared about ‘em), we substituted corn meal. Not kosher, but it tasted just fine.

Not only did we enjoy a good read together, we really did end up in the kitchen bringing this recipe to life. And that guarantees one thing for sure: that we’ll remember Hanukkah in a whole new way, thanks to all that grating, mixing and frying together.

And what better way to celebrate the return of the light (whether it’s by way of Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or Christmas candles and a Nativity), than to have a celebration of food. No matter what your personal or religious beliefs, that’s what brings us all together. And in my little bit of learning about Hanukkah, I found out that Hanukkah is part of the Jewish peoples’ celebration in their victory against Antiochus, the cruel king, who tried to force them to worship his god, forgoing their own. After three years of battle, their victory was celebrated by reclaiming and cleaning the Temple in Judea (now Israel) and building a new menorah. It was when they went to light the menorah that they discovered there was only enough purified oil to burn for one day. Yet it managed to burn for eight full days.

So if you have a dreidel game tucked in the game drawer forgotten, or if you have some potatoes in the pantry (and maybe even an extra minute to request this book from your local library), this is certainly a fun (and easy) way to bring a little Hanukkah magic into your house. Expand your kids’ real-life experience of other cultures beyond the commercial holiday messages that seem surround us from all sides at this time of year.

Here’s our adaptation of the book’s latkes recipe—they fry up delightfully crisp like hash browns, and pair perfectly with anything from meatloaf to pork—or even fried eggs or marinated tempeh.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 3 medium potatoes
• 1 small carrot
• 1 small onion
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup cornmeal (or matzo meal)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil