Monday, December 1, 2008

A Shiksa's Guide to Making Latkes



A Shiksa’s Guide to Making Latkes


Hanukkah--the holiday with as many spellings as Liz Taylor has last names--is early this year, meaning you've just barely finished the turkey leftovers and you're now staring down a10 pound bag of potatoes and wondering what you did with that kosher caterer's business card. And if you're anything like me, the product of a Jewish father and a gentile mother (which technically makes you a shiksa...a non-Jewish woman) you're likely paralyzed with fear.

So you have two choices:  Read this article or take a xanax. Or both.


But first, a little background about Hanukkah.  On this holiday, Jewish people celebrate their victory over a tyrant king and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. As the story goes, a small quantity of oil to light the Temple's menorah miraculously lasted eight days. So naturally, we celebrate by frying stuff in oil. Get it? You still with me?In the continuum of Jewish holidays, Hanukkah is truly the most fun. After all, we don't have to go to Temple or deprive ourselves of food.  We have spinning dreydels, chocolate coins wrapped in silver and gold, candles to light, gifts to open and, most importantly, pounds and pounds of potatoes and onions to shred and fry. And who doesn’t love a holiday that entails scraping the skin off your knuckles and spending hours slaving over skillets of blistering hot canola?

So in order to prepare us all for this festive occasion, I thought I would share the proper technique for making latkes, with special instructions for the novice latke maker (and any shiksas among us who might find themselves in the unfortunate position of hosting this year’s festivities).

Please note:  It is important that you not skip any of these steps or you'll be the topic of conversation at next week's mahjong game, and it won't be pretty.

Latkes: Preparation, Recipe and Serving Method

Here are instructions and a recipe for real Jewish Latkes; the kind that stink up your house for weeks (especially if you make 90 of them for your family Hanukkah party and leave the next day for two weeks in Boca).

Just ten easy steps.  (What, you have something else to do besides fry latkes for 14 people?)

Preparation:

1) Argue for several months (beginning around Rosh Hashana) over who is making the latkes this year. When you are chosen, passive-aggressively mutter under your breath that yours are better, anyway.

2) Phone all of the other people involved (namely those who weren't chosen to make latkes and a few of your unsuspecting shiksa* girlfriends) and whine until they agree to come over to help you. (Your shiksa girlfriends will only fall for this once, so choose wisely.)

3) Cover your stove and other work surfaces to protect them from hot oil (foil works well). In fact, draping your entire kitchen in Reynolds Wrap and having a Hazmat team at the ready would not be overkill. (Those guys that cleaned up after that BP spill in the Gulf would be perfect.)

4) Put on your oldest "schmatta" (an old rag of an outfit) because the smell will never leave your clothing. Never. Ever. Trust me. Please.

5) Prepare, Prepare, Prepare: Open all the windows in the kitchen and turn on the exhaust fan. Close all bedroom doors and put rolled towels underneath. Turn off the furnace so the smell isn't circulated through the house. Buy an extra furnace filter to install after the holiday. Find the fire extinguisher and place it within easy reach, even though it's 20 years old, in need of recharging and you have no idea how to use it.

6) Fill several skillets with about 1/2 inch of oil, tisk-tisking as to "oy, so much fat!" the entire time and loudly debating the merits of sunflower/corn/canola oil with your latke-making partners and insisting that your choice of oil (whichever it is) is best, even if you used something different last year and you're only using canola this year because it was 2/$5 at Kroger last week.

7) Call your mother or grandmother six times while you are mixing the batter to make sure you have the proportions right and then cry until she comes over to help you. (Special note for shiksas: under NO circumstances call your Jewish mother-in-law for advice; this would be admitting weakness and it’s all down hill from there.)

8) Loudly yell "oy!" each time a tiny splatter of grease touches your skin and complain that your back hurts after the 3rd batch. (If you'd stand up straight like I told you, you wouldn't have this problem.) Take a motrin. At this point, those of us with shiksa blood begin drinking heavily. I find sparkling wine goes nicely with latke making, although grain alcohol straight from the bottle will do in a pinch. Surely it's no coincidence that "vodka" is the only word in the English language that rhymes with "latke".

9) Repeat until all potatoes are fried and your kitchen, clothing, hair and the dog smell like a White Castle restaurant at 2 am. (Only a shiksa would know from that smell.)

And now for step ten.

I'm pretty sure every single latke cook learned to make these crispy delights as a result of having been suckered into helping someone else make them and that no real recipe for them exists.  Now, pay attention because I'm only telling you this once.

10) This is really just one step...be sure to read it all the way through; I wouldn't want you to be the subject of gossip in the locker room at the JCC next week. It's bad enough they're already talking about you at mahj.

RECIPE:

Large russet potatoes (many pounds)
medium yellow onions (about a 1 to 5 ratio to potatoes)
eggs (a dozen or more)
matzo meal or flour (many handfuls)
salt (several teaspoons per batch)
pepper (smidgens per batch...oy, so spicy!)
oil (more than you can imagine)

a) shred or grate potatoes and place the shreds in a bowl of cold water until all potatoes are shredded and you're bleeding from every knuckle

b) grate onions and put in a separate bowl (a gas mask is helpful here)

c) beat about half the eggs and season them with salt and pepper

Then, using a separate large bowl:

d) pull about four or five big handfuls of shredded potatoes from the water and squeeze the moisture back into the bowl of potatoes and water until they are pretty dry (alternately you can squeeze in cheesecloth) and dump into another large bowl

e) add a handful of or so of onion to the bowl with the potatoes

f) add a small handful of flour or matzo meal until the potatoes are very lightly coated, mixing with your hands

g) add enough egg to well moisten the potatoes; the mixture should be wet but not soupy

h) at this point experienced latke makers will spoon up some of the potato starch that has settled to the bottom of the original bowl of potatoes and stir this into the mixture, as well.  This was a trick I learned from my mother-in-law.  Genius.

i) fill your palm with some of the potato mixture and pat it to compress it onto a large spoon or spatula; slide it gently into a skillet containing about 1/2 inch of hot (375) oil...cook until browned on one side; turn over and brown on the other side.  (If you're cooking for a crowd, you'll need multiple skillets going at once. In this case, I recommend holding off on the vodka until after the latkes are made. Four skillets of hot oil can strike fear in the heart of even the most experienced drunken cook.)

j) Drain on a rack and transfer to baking sheets lined with brown paper (cut up grocery bags work great and they're free, unless you're in Illinois in which case they're 7 cents, but that's for another blog) and set aside. Reheat in a hot oven when ready to serve. Once they are cooled you can freeze them and use a paper bag lined cookie sheets to reheat. They reheat really well and are yummy topped with a fried egg at breakfast.

Serving Method: (What, you're shocked that there are twelve steps in the ten-step process? Silly girl.)

11) Fill two platters with hot latkes; repeat as needed. (It is best for the latke chef to plan to remain standing for the duration of the meal. Have a vodka.)

12) Serve with sugar free apple sauce and low fat sour cream and act surprised when your gentile guests find the incongruity of this puzzling.

Happy Hanukkah...Chanukah...whatever.

PS:  They have really nice frozen latkes at Trader Joe's.  Just be sure to fry up a pan full of onions before your party and nick your knuckles a few times for effect. I promise I won't tell.


This material is the sole property of the writer and may not be copied or republished without permission.

6 comments:

Adam Helfman said...

LMAO! your actually funny! and pretty hott......

ABS Real Estate said...

Though not one of the "High Holidays," I would not refer to Chanukah as one of the "least important." As a kid, it was one of the holiday that I most looked forward to and it contributed to my developing Jewish Identity in a big way! You are not pretty hot.....you are super hot. Even if the Latkes sucked, they would be ok if being shared with the Redhead Gourmet....just kidding....I know they would be awesome. Happy Chanukah.

Sara said...

Thanks, guy! Perhaps "least important" isn't the right word; from a religious standpoint, it has less significance than many other Jewish holidays. And because I didn't grow up celebrating it except with the Jewish side of my family who had no kids my age, I never really experienced it the way my kids have.

Happy "Whatever". :-)

Sara said...

Sorry, meant to say "guys"!

Kim Lifton said...

Love it, Sara. Sorry it took so long to get to it.

Unknown said...

Hi Sara,

We were just trying to find out if Hillers is open on Christmas Day and came across your blog! Who knew!! Soulful spinning AND shiksa latke making...wow!!

Ellen and Paul

Stop by, bring wine.

Preferably good wine. Food would be good, too.