By Shannon Deady
Columnist
One of my favorite parts of the holiday season has always been learning more about how other cultures celebrate.
My friends from home come from a variety of different backgrounds. I enjoyed learning more about Hanukkah from my best friend and her family, who graciously welcomed us to their holiday festivities. We helped prepare potato pancakes, or latkes, for the family, which was something I looked forward to every year. After taking some home for my own family to try, my brother and I begged my mother to make them ourselves. We have used the recipe ever since.
An interesting fact that I had learned while researching latkes is that they are not traditionally made with potatoes, and in many places, they still are not. Depending on the variety of food available regionally, latkes can be made from vegetables, cheeses, legumes or other starches instead of the potato base.
For another variation of a latke, read the following recipe, which shreds the potatoes and onions, rather than blending them, and mixes the shreds with the remaining ingredients before frying.
Makes: 6 servings
Ingredients:
2 eggs
3 cups of cubed potatoes
1 small onion
2 tbsp. of flour
1 tsp of salt
¼ tsp of baking powder
Oil for frying
Optional: applesauce or sour cream for dipping
Directions:
- Put eggs, onion, salt, flour, baking powder and ½ cup of potatoes into the blender, and process until smooth.
- Add remaining potatoes and process mixture again until smooth.
- Heat oil in frying pan and pour potato batter in as you would if you were making pancakes.
- Fry about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
- Let cool and serve with applesauce or sour cream. Enjoy!
