The essence of Holiday menus are traditions which are so old we don’t always know where or why they started, but which nonetheless must be honored. Holiday meals are more for the re-creation of old memories than innovation. One such tradition is the eating of potato pancakes at Hanukah. One could be contemporary or cute and make them out of carrots or celery root, and they would taste good, but they simply wouldn’t be in keeping with the spirit of the holidays. One tradition which has fallen by the wayside is the frying of the pancakes in rendered duck or chicken fat, known as schmalz. Those who make the extra effort to use this will be richly rewarded. And so in that vein I offer the following recipe for the most traditional of meals. Bon Appetit and Happy Holidays.
Potato Latkes
serves 4
4 large potatoes
4 eggs
1 medium sized onion
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper
rendered chicken fat (optional)
1.Peel the potatoes and onions, and grate them in either a food processor, or an old fashioned 4 sided hand grater.
2. Add the eggs and flour into the grated potatoes, add salt and pepper to taste, and mix well. Don’t worry if the mix is a little runny.
3. If you have some rendered chicken fat, heat it in a skillet until the pan is almost smoking hot. In the absence of the chicken fat, vegetable oil works fine. Cook the pancakes for about 2 minutes on each side, and serve immediately with either sour cream or applesauce.
This recipe appears in Michael Ballon’s Castle Street Cafe Cookbook, along with numerous other holiday recipes.
