Hanukkah Foods

The ever-popular potato latke heads the list of traditional, oily Hanukkah treats.

On Hanukkah is it customary to eat foods that are either fried in oil, or made with cheese.

The fried foods custom recalls the miracle of Hanukkah, which centered around oil (one cruse lasting for eight days). Latkes (fried potato pancakes) are traditional, topped with applesauce or sour cream, but there are many creative variations to the pancakes and the toppings. Other fried foods for Hanukkah include jelly doughnuts, and other kinds of fritters.

The cheesy foods tradition is based on a story from the apocryphal Book of Judith which takes place during the time of the Maccabbean revolt that we commemorate on Hannukkah.. There we read that in his quest to conquer Judea, an Assyrian warrior named Holofernes besieged the town of Bethulia. Though Bethulia's elders were ready to surrender, Judith, a widow, entered the Assyrian camp and gave Holofernes salty cheese to make him thirsty, and wine to make him drunk. After he became intoxicated, she seized his sword and beheaded him, bringing the head back to her village in a basket. The next morning when the Assyrian troops found the headless body of their leader, they fled in terror. In honor of Judith's victorious and brave use of cheese, we incorporate the food into our Hanukkah menus.