I had latkes once when a Jewish friend made some for our class as kind of a “cultural awareness” thing during our goofing-off-between-midterms-and-winter-break period in middle school. Since most of us in class were Christian, and there had been a lot of talk of Christmas even by the teachers, she and her mom came in and made us latkes and told us about Hannukah.
Those were some GOOD latkes.
I’ve been kind of wanting to try to make some myself, because they were yummy. Even though it’s been like six years since I had them in the first place. But I know this unrelated third party who got very defensive about a non-Jewish person making and eating some kind of jelly donut on a Jewish holiday when the making and eating of jelly donuts are traditionally practiced. I wouldn’t want anybody getting offended over my goy latkes…
Would you, personally, consider such a thing to be an appropriation of the Jewish holiday/celebration? Would it be otherwise offensive? What if it were a different food, or a non-edible custom?
What makes you think Latkes were invented by a Jew, anyway?
Someone, somewhere along the way, appropriated Yet Another Fried Food (which are the traditional Hannukah foods, because of the Miracle of the Oil which is its central theme).
Oh, and Jelly Donuts are for Hannukah, too… but only if you’re Ashkenazi! Sephardim have different Fried Goodies for Hannukah. And they’re all yummy and all WAAAAAY too fattening
Call 'em potato pancakes and ignore the guy who objects.
Sheesh.
Personally, I’m all for crossing culture. I think we all ought to learn more about the practices of other cultures and religions and make an effort to understand them, even to celebrate them.
Considering that freakin’ IHOP makes 'em, go right ahead.
All’s you need to do is grate some potato and onion, throw in an egg and some salt and pepper and matzo meal, make into patties and fry till golden brown and crispy.
Serve, as KVS said, with applesauce and sour cream.
Definitely not offensive. But it is a lot of work. I suggest inviting a few friends over to share the labor and the feast!
Anyone who gets all up in arms about goyishe* sufganiyot (those special Jelly Doughnuts) seriously needs to relax.
*That’s supposed to be the adjectival form of goy.
What makes it really funny is that I’m an atheist, so my celebration of Christmas is an appropriation too.
Scuba_Ben, I lived in New York until after I graduated from high school, so I haven’t had any Texas latkes. I start to ponder now if maybe there’d be chili powder involved…
There’s an IHOP up the road! I can go there and avoid having to grate potatoes all day!
Latkes are eaten by many eastern european nations - my hungarian (not Jewish) grandma makes latkes. We also have recipes for blintzes (sometimes served with with non-kosher meat) - and we often eat wasa bread crackers with shell fish on them.
In eastern europe just about any kosher recipe has a non-kosher counterpart.
Well, if you’re not a purist and don’t want to spend all day grating potatoes and onions, the food processor is your friend. Prepared mixes are evil! However, I always enjoy the cooking process; it’s one of those girlie-bonding things in our family.
Are you straining out the starch? After the potatoes are grated and are sitting in a rapidly oxidizing heap, take the mush and squeeze it through a piece of cheesecloth or an old, clean t-shirt. Discard liquid. Continue as usual with a little egg, salt, pepper.
We grate some raw potatoes very fine. Then squeeze out all the juice you can. I use cheesecloth for this. Then mix in enough egg and flour (and a little salt and pepper) til you get a nice sticky consistency.
Throw into a pan with about 1/2 inch oil in there and cook til golden brown. Eat with sour cream and applesauce.
