The month of December is almost always associated with the “holiday spirit,” or the endorsed overconsumption of certain foods, beverages, and hopelessly useless items that tantalized us from store windows. It should have been easy for Rachel and I to come up with a clever idea for this weeks’ culinary endeavor, yet we were at a loss when our editor suggested that we write a piece centered around Hanukkah. As two gentiles, our knowledge of Hanukkah was limited to a few simple facts: there is a menorah, eight days of gift giving and dreidel spinning. Thus we decided to ask a few of our fellow frosh to provide us with some insight into the culinary traditions of the holiday.
After attending the Hanukkah celebration in the Olin lobby, where jelly-filled doughnuts were making the rounds, we sat down with Emma Weizenbaum ’14 and Andrew Cohen ’14 to talk about traditional foods eaten during Hanukkah.
“Basically anything using grease or oil,” Cohen said.
After we stared at him questioningly, he explained that it represents the miracle of oil. Both agreed that Hanukkah is not really a holiday that is known for the food, but there are two foods that are eight-day essentials: sufganiots and latkes. For those of us unfamiliar with these two fantastic fried foods, a sufganiot is a jelly-filled doughnut, and a latke is a potato pancake.
Since frying can be quite the hassle in a frosh kitchen, and oftentimes leaves a lingering smell, both of these recipes are rather tricky. Most likely no one is going to want to slave over a jelly doughnut when Dunkin’ Donuts is just a short walk away on Main Street, so latkes are probably the best bet for this culinary endeavor. They are fairly easy to make; however, be prepared to use your oil generously. We would personally recommend peanut oil because it doesn’t burn at high temperatures, but some other suitable alternatives are canola, sunflower, and corn oil. We also feel it is our duty as encouragers of holiday culinary experimentation to warn frosh cooks to beware when they are using hot oil.
“I was sitting around the kitchen table watching my gentile friends attempt to make latkes,” Cohen told us. “They seemed to be having a delightful time until the oil began to spit and hiss, causing the group to scatter throughout the house. I couldn’t stop laughing the whole time.”
Weizenbaum, on the other hand, recounted a less violent holiday story.
“Some of my favorite Hanukkah memories come from watching my non-Jewish friends trying to spin a dreidel,” she said. “Some of them actually got the hang of it, but it took them a while.”
To add some spice to your recipe, she suggested eating your latkes with homemade ginger applesauce.
“Use fresh grated ginger for the best flavor,” she said.
Since most of us do not keep a spare grater lying around, the best way to do this is by “borrowing” a cafeteria knife and using the serrated edge to shred bits of ginger. If this seems too tedious, you can simply buy some powdered ginger available at Weshop. Rachel and I wish you the best of luck on your cooking adventures and Happy Hanukkah to all. Love, your favorite shiksas.
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