A simple guide to making delicious latkes this Hanukkah

Why isn't the rest of America as crazy about latkes as we are about bagels?

After all, Hanukkah is the holiday when you have permission to eat fried food. You'd think this would be the biggest event in the country by now.

Despite their exotic-sounding name -- and we'll get to that later -- latkes are just grated potatoes or vegetables, fried and topped with tasty things like sour cream, applesauce, maybe even smoked salmon. What's not to love?

My own life has included plenty of kosher love. I'm not Jewish, but my family moved from eastern North Carolina to South Florida in 1969. I was 10, and I was suddenly surrounded by a culture more exotic than anything I had known.

When my seventh-grade chorus teacher, Mrs. Rausch, lifted her arms to lead us in "Hava Nagila," you couldn't miss the numbers tattooed on her arm. When I encountered the words "lox" and "bagel" at a deli in Miami Beach, I discovered one of the loves of my culinary life.

Despite that, the making of a proper latke had escaped me. How do you keep the potatoes from turning dark before you can fry them? Does it have to be potato? And what's with the applesauce?

I needed an ubermensch. So I called Amy Rogers, the contributing editor of WFAE's food blog, WFAEats.org, and the author of "Hungry For Home," a collection of recipes and essays on the meaning of food.

She trekked to my house bearing a small menorah, her favorite Fiestaware Hanukkah plate and a lot of thought about latkes.

"I can't stress enough that this is not an elegant dish," she insisted. "It's wandering food from a wandering people."

Kosher rules prohibit mixing meat and dairy, she said, and that's what's great about latkes.

"Eggs are parve -- neither meat nor dairy," she said. So the eggs you use to bind the potatoes don't keep you from having a lot of leeway in what you eat on or with your latkes. Sour cream and applesauce, both easy to get in Eastern Europe, are traditional, although you can get fancy with smoked salmon or Rogers' personal favorite, a bit of fresh cranberry sauce.

Since the potatoes turn brown quickly, you have to work fast. And while you can keep latkes hot in the oven, they're best right out of the oil.

HISTORY OF HANUKKAH

There's nothing wrong with getting fancy or staying plain with latkes. The tradition is the oil, not what you put in it.

The story is simple: In 168 B.C., a Syrian/Greek king named Antiochus captured Jerusalem and plundered the temple. A group of resisters calling themselves the Maccabees vowed to resist, and after three years, they retook the city.

But when they reconsecrated the temple, there was only enough oil to burn the sacred lamp for a day, not the eight days it took to press fresh oil. The lamp burned for eight days anyway. A miracle was declared, and Hanukkah was born.

Different foods became traditional anywhere Jews lived, from puffy doughnuts to chicken. In Eastern Europe, home of the Ashkenazi Jews, potatoes were what they had in winter, so they made potato cakes.

The word latke is Yiddish, but where it came from is debated. Many sources suggest it came from a Ukrainian word, oladka, which came from a Greek word, eladion, "little oily thing." That came from elai, or olive, because oil came from olives.

Most immigrant Jews were poor, Rogers says, so they improvised.

"You might have one radish for color, so you added that. Or if you wanted to grate some beets, you could do that. You used what you had."

ALL ABOUT THE RITUAL

After making potato latkes and "leftover" latkes from mashed potatoes, we agreed that our favorites were sweet potato latkes. Flavored with chopped bits of candied ginger, cumin, nutmeg and cinnamon and topped with a bit of fresh cranberry relish, they were crisp and vivid with flavor.

Tossing hot latkes from hand to hand, we contemplated the delight we both take in any food tradition.

"Like anything else in Jewish cooking, it's all about the rituals," said Rogers.

"Nobody recorded the culinary history of people who were oppressed, people who were on the run, people who were reviled, feared or targeted for extermination, not to put too fine a point on it.

"Those are the kinds of stories that I think are the most important ones to tell."

TIPS FROM A LATKE PRO

From latke maker and food writer Amy Rogers of Charlotte, N.C.:

-- Crisp latkes mean getting the water out of the potatoes. After you peel them, don't cover them with water. Just work very quickly to shred them into a cotton dish towel and squeeze the water out.

-- To keep from nicking your knuckle on the grater, hold your hand flat and press the potato against the grater with your palm, keeping your fingers out of the way.

-- Before you drop the cakes in the hot oil, drop in a shred of potato. It should get bubbly immediately.

-- If you want to press the potato cakes with the flat of a spatula while they're frying, spray the spatula with a little nonstick cooking spray so it doesn't stick and tear the crust.

-- Don't turn the latkes more than once. Once you turn them, they won't get any browner if you turn them again.

-- To tell when they're brown enough, watch the edges: Brown will creep up the sides when they're ready.

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LATKES RECIPES

Traditional Potato Latkes

1 to 11/4 pounds russet potatoes (about 2 large potatoes)

1 small onion, peeled

1/4 cup matzo meal or all-purpose flour (see note)

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Oil for frying

Toppings: Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, applesauce, smoked salmon or caviar

Makes about 10 latkes.

Line a large bowl with a clean linen or cotton dish towel. Peel and grate the potatoes and place them in the towel. Grate the onion and add it to the potatoes. Roll up the towel lengthwise so the potatoes are enclosed. Twist the ends and wring out as much liquid as you can. Discard the liquid and dry the bowl.

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper together in the large bowl, then whisk in the egg. Stir in the potato-onion mixture and mix well.

Pour 1/2-inch oil into a heavy skillet and preheat over medium heat. Don't allow it to smoke.

Use your hands to form potato patties about 2 1/2 inches across and 1/3-inch thick. Place in the oil and cook until the edges are brown, about 3 to 4 minutes, then turn the latkes and cook the other side several minutes longer. Remove to drain on paper towels and serve hot, topped with your choice of toppings.

Note: While it's traditional to use matzo meal, it's OK to use all-purpose flour instead.

Gingered Sweet Potato Latkes

1 pound sweet potatoes (about 1 large), peeled

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup candied ginger, roughly chopped

2 large eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

Oil for frying

Topping: Sour cream and fresh cranberry sauce

Makes about 10 latkes.

Grate the sweet potatoes coarsely into a mixing bowl and set aside.

Mix the flour, sugars, baking powder, nutmeg, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper in a separate bowl. Add the beaten eggs and milk to make a stiff batter. Add to the grated sweet potatoes and mix.

Pour 1/2-inch oil into a heavy skillet and preheat over medium heat but do not allow it to smoke.

Drop sweet potato batter by double tablespoonfuls into the hot oil. As the edges begin to color, flatten them slightly to an even thickness with a spatula. Once the edges are brown, about 4 minutes, turn the latkes and cook the other side several minutes more. Remove to drain on paper towels and serve hot, topped with sour cream and fresh cranberry sauce.

Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

1 cup leftover chilled mashed potatoes

1 egg, beaten

2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour or matzo meal

1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Pinch of garlic powder

1 tablespoon snipped chives

Oil for frying

Pour 1/2-inch oil into a heavy skillet and preheat over medium heat but do not allow it to smoke.

Mix mashed potatoes and egg until blended. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Add to the potato mixture, then stir in the chives.

Drop by double tablespoonfuls into the hot oil. As the edges begin to color, flatten the pancakes slightly to an even thickness with a spatula. Once the edges are brown, about 4 minutes, turn the pancakes and cook the other side several minutes longer. Remove to drain on paper towels and serve hot.

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 9:45 PM with the headline "A simple guide to making delicious latkes this Hanukkah ."