I love potatoes and I love most things fried, but honestly, I have a hard time getting down with latkes. Part of it, certainly, is the word latkes, which just completely grosses me out. Yuck. But also, I think latkes are often kind of lame and nasty. Oil is good, too much oil is gross. Plus, latkes often result in grated skin, lots of burned bits of potatoes, smoke, some possible fires…I just would rather not. I’m a firm believer in hamantaschen, but not latkes. Luckily, there are some awesome alternatives to your standard fare Hanukkah foods. Check out our own recipe for cheese-filled pancakes–Atayef, a Syrian treat. We also have Bimuelos, a Sephardic sweet fritter. And of course there are sufganiyot, or jelly doughnuts. But today I saw this recipe for Yam and Turnip Galettes, and I knew I had found my new Hanukkah staple. Potatoes? Check! Oil? Check! Awesomeness that isn’t too greasy and hell on your knuckles? Double check.
Of course, if you’re a hardline latke-ist, we’ve got plenty of recipes for you, too, and there’s a good one over at smitten kitchen. And some interesting latke-related musings at Self-Aggrandizement.
Still, I urge you, try the Gallettes this year! Spare your knuckles!
Hanukkah
Pronounced: KHAH-nuh-kah, also ha-new-KAH, an eight-day festival commemorating the Maccabees’ victory over the Greeks and subsequent rededication of the temple. Falls in the Hebrew month of Kislev, which usually corresponds with December.
Sephardic
Pronounced: seh-FAR-dik, Origin: Hebrew, describing Jews descending from the Jews of Spain.
