KOACH Recipe:
Possibly Nana's Famous Latke Recipe

By Risa Weinstein
KOACH Rabbinic Intern

My Nana, my maternal grandmother, was a traditionalist when she cooked. A good Eastern European immigrant, her borscht (beet soup) was tangy, her stuffed cabbage intricately layered and moist, and her matzah balls so light that they practically floated from your mouth to your stomach (okay, maybe I'm being a little melodramatic, but she really was an outstanding chef). Nana didn't do fusion, Nana didn't know from sushi, but Nana could certainly cook and serve a hearty meal that would leave your belly feeling warm and put a sleepy, but satisfied grin on your face.

It was only on Hanukkah that Nana abandoned her old-world cooking style. Come Hanukkah time, no food was safe from Nana's process of "latkefication." Whether vegetable, starch, or protein, Nana would celebrate the miracle of oil by frying it into a fritter. Of course Nana made potato latkes. But, if you were in the mood for something slightly sweet, Nana would whip up a batch of matzo meal latkes for you. For Hanukkah lunches, Nana would make salmon latkes as the main dish. When she was feeling particularly creative, Nana would chop up and "latekfy" spinach or another vegetable.

Now, I wish I could tell you that the recipe I am presenting below was 100 percent the same as the wonderful latkes Nana would make. However, Nana never used a cookbook or recipe in her life. She learned her craft from watching her mother, who learned how to cook from watching her mother, down the line until surely one of my great-grandmothers learned how to cook from watching Sarah Imeinu (Sarah the Matriarch) herself.

A couple of times my mother or another daring relative would ask Nana to write down a recipe for them. Each effort, though, was met with culinary disaster. Nana would write that the recipe required half a cup of flour when really it only called for two tablespoons. As Nana never used measuring spoons and cups when she cooked, she had a hard time estimating how much of an ingredient someone else would need for the same recipe. Similarly, Nana would forget to mention eggs or salt in her recipes. After all, Nana would assume, doesn't everyone know when to add such basic ingredients? For Nana, cooking was an art that she intuited but couldn't quantify.

So, every year at Hanukkah my family tries to recreate, to the best of our ability, Nana's famous latkes. Our latkes still taste delicious, but something is missing that we can't quite grasp. We assume it has nothing to do with the ingredients, though. Rather, we miss Nana's presence---the way she smelled after returning from her once a week trip to the beauty parlor to have her hair set, the sounds of her singing in Yiddish while she cooked and the love that poured from her when she brought us platters of latkes piled high.

Possibly Nana's Famous Latke Recipe

2 C. grated raw potatoes (4 or 5 large) or, if feeling creative, 1/2 C. potato (for starch) and 1 1/2 cups other vegetables such as spinach, zucchini, or carrots

1 medium onion

2 eggs

1/2 t baking powder

1 1/2 t salt

Dash pepper

1/4 cup matzo meal

Peanut oil for frying

Pare potatoes and other vegetables and grate. Add chopped or grated onion.  For a better consistency when frying, place the potato/onion mixture in a cheesecloth and squeeze out extra water. Add the rest of ingredients and let the mixture sit for a few minutes.  Drop by tablespoons into hot peanut oil, almost deep enough to cover pancakes.  Fry over moderate heat until browed on one side.  Turn and brown on the other side.  If necessary, drain on absorbent paper.  Serves 4 to 6.

[Posted 11/28/05]