HANUKKAH LATKES BY WAY OF LONDON

I may not be Jewish but I love celebrations that revolve around family and food. Plus I respect all religions that value tradition and respect for each other. So when Hanukkah was around the corner and I was in charge of cooking, I was happy to make a trip to Waitrose (a nice grocery chain in England) and explore the produce aisle.

Potato latkes are fine, and I've had and made many versions of it before, but frankly I find them a bit boring on their own. I was happy to find lots of inspiration at Waitrose, so I got home with a large bag of root vegetables, and a big smile :-)

Parsnips are a big part of British culture, so they had to be part of these latkes, but they still don't contribute much to the latkes in the color department (my grandmother said there should always be some color in food, hence her use of chilis and especially paprika in her modest kitchen. And I remember my pretty well-mannered grandfather complaining about "this food does not have enough color" when my grandmother had a stroke and one of the neighbors had made the soup for a meal - since then, I always have color on my plate. Thank you grandma for not letting us have uni-color meals:-) ... So I added carrots, green onions, and dill, which everybody said, brought lots of flavor to the dish (and good color). We had a big family to feed, so once I had a big bowl of the latke batter ready, I put two large pans on fire and added vegetable oil. Then we turned the hood on high and put the Hanukkah music on (louder than the fan!) which put everybody in Hanukkah mood (if there is one?) and I started frying!

Here is a little note on the pans: my personal preference on the rare occasion that I fry is high quality non-stick pans. They are easier to clean, and clearly you use less fat. Clearly, this being Hanukkah, the focus was on the oil, so there was no skimping on that, and with a large family we needed more than one pan going. In the end, this turned out to be a nice opportunity to compare the performance of stainless steel vs. non-stick pans (hear that Christopher Kimball? Jewish Test Kitchen at work in London :-) In the end, the latkes cooked in the stainless steel pan were crispier probably because we could cook them at a higher temperature (which means you need to keep your eyes on them). The ones cooked in the stainless steel pan were a bit softer. This is an outcome probably noone else noticed, as the latkes went onto a large serving tray as they came out of the pan, and then in a low oven to keep them warm. Probably with adults you can cook and serve at the same time, but when there are children involved, and the latkes start disappearing, you have to make it quick, and latkes don't like rushing. If you have the fire too high, you will run the risk of burning the outside without cooking the inside properly. Ideally, once the oil is hot, you want them to cook about 2-3 minutes per side on medium (every stove, fire, pan is different, so trial and error is the best method.) And one thing I learned this time, if you have 2 large pans going, by the time you are done placing the uncooked batter in the 2nd pan, the first latke is ready to flip, so you you need to have system to keep the order in place. Who knew there were so many little tricks to latkes? 

We served the latkes with roast beef (what is more British than that?) and a green salad, then followed by a Christmas Pudding (ok, that could be more British...) which then was followed by Stilton and local honey (um, you get the point) 

I guess my "Hanukkah Latkes by way of London" were a hit, since by the end of the dinner we had only a couple left from probably 30 or so. The best part of it was both kids and adults enjoyed it, which always makes a holiday (or any meal) perfect. As we cleaned up the table, I was already contemplating the possibility of coming down to the kitchen before bed time (a la Nigella!) for a cold latke topped with plain greek yogurt (one of the toppings we served with the lakes, the other one was British apple sauce) - fortunately my Stilton with the Balblair Scotch was so satisfying there was no need for anything else.

HANUKKAH LATKES BY WAY OF LONDON (Recipe)

Since we had a big family to feed, our batch was big, but you can adjust accordingly. Also, when I am cooking from inspiration, I rarely use measurements, so the following is just a guidance. If you are a creative cook, you will use this as a guide anyway. If you are a novice, take your favorite latke recipe and replace 1-2 potatoes with carrots and 1-2 potatoes with parsnips, and add dill to the batter. You can also replace regular onions with spring onions. Have fun!

3 pounds of potatoes

1 pound of carrots

1 pound of parsnips

1 bunch of spring onions

1 bunch of dill

1-2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (just a hint)

salt pepper to taste

3 tablespoons of cornflour*

As many eggs as it takes (see below)

Clean and chop the spring onions and dill finely.

Peel and grate the carrots, parsnips, and potatoes preferably in that order as potatoes oxidize the fastest. I layer the new batch of grated vegetables on top of the old one in the mixing bowl to minimize contact with air (some people wash the grated vegetables in water but I prefer to keep the nutrition and the starch, your call).  

Put your pan(s) on fire at this point, add the oil type and amount based on your preference for frying. I suggest using a light, non-flavor oil such as canola, grapeseed, sunflower, or rice bran oil. 

Add the flour, spring onion, dill, and the spices to the vegetables, mix a little, then add the eggs preferably 4 at the beginning and one by one until you reach the desired batter consistency. The egg should hold it together, but it shouldn't be runny. You will see that the batter will get runnier as it sits (the potatoes release water) and you can add a bit of cornflour at that point. Ideally you'll be at the  last batch by the time you get there. 

When the oil is hot but not smoking, put about 1-2 tablepoons of the batter in the pan, help it spread, and continue with the rest of the batter. Flip after 2-3 minutes once the latke is golden on one side. You will know the temperature better after the first pan, that's the way it goes when you're frying. 

Serve with apple sauce, sour cream (or greek yogurt), or chutney - and lots of love!

If you want to be more adventurous, you can add other spices to the batter after the first batch, or omit the others if you don't like them. In the past, I used curry, chipotle, and ground coriander. If you like the taste of parsnips, be careful with the spices not to mask their delicate taste. If you don't like them, clearly you can omit them. I even used rutabagas once. The idea is to have fun!

* I used cornflour because we had someone with celiac disease at the table. You can use any type of flour, my favorite is chickpea flour as it makes the latkes crisp.