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I\u2019m bored. Maybe it\u2019s the 40-year itch, but I\u2019ve been making the same Hanukkah potato latkes for decades. (Not that there\u2019s anything wrong with them. Several years ago, in reviewing my first cookbook \u201cMelting Pot Memories,\u201d Food Editor Cathy Thomas of The Orange County Register<\/i> called them \u201ccrispy-brown snowflakes\u201d and \u201clacy, almost-crunchy wonders\u201d\u2026but I don\u2019t like to brag.) Now I\u2019m itching for something new.<\/p>\n
Like the song about love, I seem to be lookin\u2019 for latkes in all the wrong places, because lately, daring latke diversions have been popping up where I least expect them, and I\u2019m like Alice in Latke-land. They all seem to say, \u201cFry me!\u201d \u201cNo, me!\u201d<\/p>\n
For Hanukkah it\u2019s all about the oil. When Judah Maccabee and his tiny army defeated the Syrian-Greeks, they found only a tiny flask of oil with which to purify the desecrated Temple. Miraculously, it burned for eight days, setting off a frying frenzy that has lasted for centuries.<\/p>\n
But who says traditional potato latkes are the only fritter fit to fry? My latkes this year come from unusual sources. (No Jewish cookbooks were injured in the writing of this story.)<\/p>\n
Latkes from a novel? In Sharon Boorstin\u2019s irresistible romp, \u201cCookin\u2019 For Love\u201d (chick-lit for the 49-year-old-plus set\u2026with recipes, of course), Miriam, a married Jewish cookbook author, fantasizes about food while her divorced friend, Kate, fantasizes about a past relationship. When Kate heads to Muslim Malaysia, she begs Miriam to come along.<\/p>\n
Miriam\u2019s thoughts seldom stray from food – a waxing reminds her of Grandma Estelle plucking a chicken \u2013 and when she awakens from a dream about Grandma\u2019s latkes to find her cleaver-toting captor frying curried onions, it\u2019s an \u201caha\u201d moment of the kitchen kind. Cashews! Ginger! This is a latke with pizzazz!<\/p>\n
Next, Hanukkah shopping for my grandchildren, I stumble on Joanne Rocklin\u2019s \u201cThe Very Best Hanukkah Gift,\u201d chosen by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee of the Association of Jewish Libraries as one of the best Hanukkah books of the past few years.<\/p>\n
In the story, eight-year-old Daniel, an awkward middle child, eagerly awaits Hanukkah – eight nights of candle lighting, games and gifts, not to mention the wonderful food. But while Daniel revels in the story of the brave Maccabees, he has to face his own dog phobia before his sister\u2019s dream of a puppy for Hanukkah can come true. To top it off, his mom is making green latkes! GROSS! Daniel faces both challenges, and I\u2019ve got another recipe. Made with zucchini \u2013 the holiday is not about the potato, but the oil, remember \u2013 these latkes are called \u201cMiracle Latkes,\u201d as they use hardly any oil at all. Healthy and delicious, and I don\u2019t have to wear them. Now, that\u2019s a miracle!<\/p>\n
And speaking of healthy, when I\u2019m hankering for a low-fat dish with panache, the Moosewood Collective never lets me down. These 19 folks who own and operate the legendary Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York, helped put vegetarian dining and organic foods on the culinary map (the restaurant is not kosher, but their cookbooks offer some great recipes for all). So this mecca of healthy, natural food would hardly be the first place I\u2019d look for latkes to fry. But, wait. Potatoes are vegetarian, and this lemon-scented sweet potato pancake makes a fine\u2026excuse me? Dessert? Another surprise, but why not! A sweet ending to a sweet celebration.<\/p>\n
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