Oil. Latkes. Donuts. Food-wise, these are staples of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival celebrating the Maccabean revolt against the Greeks and rededication of the Second Temple.
Those who celebrate it light candles each of the eight nights, taking in the glow of candlelight during the darkest days of winter. During the rededication of the temple a one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days, which led to the traditions of lighting the menorah each night and cooking holiday meals with oil.
As a Jew of Eastern European descent, I still feel it is not Hanukkah unless I have grease seeping out of my pores by the end of the eight days. Maybe that is an exaggeration, but the smell of potatoes and onions sizzling in hot oil is one of the strongest associations of the holiday for me.
Which leads to some words of caution: for some, like me, it’s not truly Hanukkah if you don’t splatter your stove and fill your kitchen with that smell that hits guests as soon as they walk in (as well as whatever clothes you happen to be wearing while at the stove.) It’s a sign of a beloved holiday filled with nostalgia and memories, but the smell can linger for several days. Consider yourself warned.
Nosh snuck a peek at the recipe books of East Bay Jewish chefs and restaurant owners to see what they might be cooking up for the holiday this year, if not at their restaurants, then what they wish to see on their own table.
Hanukkah begins on the night of Dec. 7, and below you will find a full meal’s worth of recipes, including a main course, a new twist on latkes, a dessert and cocktail to help add culinary creativity to this year’s celebration.
Cocktail: You Maccabee Kidding Me
Will Bekker, bar manager, Saul’s Deli
Latkes and matzah ball soup are such mainstays for Saul’s Deli in Berkeley, that they remain on the menu year-round. However, its seasonal cocktails are another matter. Under new owners Sam Tobis and Jesus “Chuy” Mendoza, the deli has been experimenting with cocktails with cheeky Jewish names like its seasonal winter offering, “You Maccabee Kidding Me.”
The concoction is a creation of Will Bekker, who oversees Saul’s bar program along with other managerial duties. It’s a riff on a margarita, with mezcal the main spirit.
Other ingredients include a kosher liqueur called Besamim, lime juice, Campari and agave nectar. Besamim, the Hebrew word for spices, has notes of vanilla, clove and cinnamon. It’s an artisanal liquor made by Sukkah Hill Spirits.
“The spices of the liqueur along with the smokiness of the mezcal symbolize the burnt incense at the rededication of the Second Temple,” Tobis says.
(Not up to do it yourself this year? Saul’s can meet all your latkes needs, selling both pre-made ones, as well as batter and homemade applesauce in addition to other Hanukkah staples, and will be lighting the menorah daily at the restaurant at 4:30 p.m. Reservations advised.)
Ingredients:
Makes one cocktail
1 ½ ounces mezcal
½ ounce Campari
½ ounce Besamim Liqueur
1 ounce lime juice
½ ounce agave nectar
Instructions:
Put all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Serve up in a martini glass with a dried grapefruit peel for a garnish.
Red wine and honey brisket
David Jacobson, sous chef, ACRE Kitchen & Bar
If meat and potatoes is as classic of a culinary duo as they come, the Jewish version is brisket and latkes. Because, while applesauce and sour cream are the standard latke toppers, the sauce from the brisket is an excellent, lesser-known third choice (at least in this writer’s mind).
Chef David Jacobson of Oakland’s ACRE Kitchen and Bar is more known for his pizza, but he’s been working on the restaurant’s first Hanukkah menu, served Dec. 7-15. Rotisserie chicken, some vegetable sides and an olive oil cake will also be on offer, and, of course, latkes. Reservations advised.
While he’s been known to put bittersweet chocolate in his brisket braise before, this year he’s going with a more classic version.
“I’ve started wearing flannel and the warm flavors of red wine, rosemary, thyme and beef just hit really well right now,” Jacobson said.
Ingredients:
Note: A good rule of thumb is to get one pound of brisket per person; the fat needs to be trimmed and it shrinks while cooking, but it will also ensure leftovers, and brisket freezes wonderfully.
1 trimmed brisket, second cut preferred
1 tablespoon Salt
1 tablespoon Pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 whole head garlic
2 yellow onions, peeled and sliced
2 bay leaves
Half bunch each: thyme, rosemary, parsley
1 bottle tasty, inexpensive red wine
1 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup Honey
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 F.
Generously season the brisket with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or a large pot on medium-high heat. Sear brisket for about five minutes on each side and remove.
Add garlic and onions to the pan and sweat, about five minutes, until they are translucent but not browning. Add onion and garlic powders with the bay leaves and stir for another 30 seconds until it becomes aromatic. Add fresh herbs and a half cup of the wine, and deglaze, reducing the liquid until it’s nearly gone. Whisk in honey, chicken stock, balsamic vinegar and orange juice and the rest of the wine.
Add the brisket. Cover and bake for two hours before turning, then bake another two hours. Let rest for 20 minutes before slicing.
Jalapeño-Potato Latkes with Spiced Apple Salsa
Matt Gandin, chef, Comal
Latkes are a favorite Hanukkah food, and are pretty much a must in any Ashkenazi Jewish household (those with roots in Eastern Europe). Oil is key here.
For years now, Comal, the Mexican restaurant in Berkeley, has been doing Jewish-themed dinners in its abajo, or private dining room, for both Hanukkah and Passover. In a play on words, chef Matt Gandin has named the Hanukkah dinner “Oaxanukkah.” Both sell out well in advance (this year is already fully booked).
Gandin worked at San Francisco’s Delfina for many years, where its Jewish chef/owner Craig Stoll did Hanukkah menus. While some of Italy’s most iconic dishes were created and then popularized by its Jewish community, that’s not the case in Mexico, even though Mexico has a sizable Jewish population, Gandin said.
“My idea was just to have fun with it,” he said. “There’s no real Jewish culinary tradition in Mexico as there is in Italy, so I just took recipes or dishes that I was familiar with from growing up in an Ashkenazi Jewish family, and spiking them with some Mexican flavors. It’s not anything like what you might find in Mexico City, but it’s a fun spin.”
That’s how he came up with jalapeño latkes. And rather than the traditional applesauce and sour cream, he serves them with his house-made apple salsa and Mexican crema.
Jalapeño-Potato Latkes
Ingredients:
Serves 6 to 8
6 medium russet potatoes
1 medium yellow onion
1 whole egg
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (can substitute potato starch to keep gluten-free)
½ fresh jalapeño, finely chopped
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Neutral oil such as rice bran or avocado for frying
Instructions:
The day before preparing the latkes, place the whole potatoes with their skin on in a pot and cover them with cold water. Bring the pot to a boil. As soon as it boils, drain off the water. Lay out the potatoes in a single layer to cool, and refrigerate overnight. This step sets the starch in the potatoes, and is done for three reasons. First, it prevents the potatoes from oxidizing and turning brown. Second, there is no need to squeeze out excess potato water once grated.
And third, it will prevent any raw potato texture in the center of the latkes.
Grate the potatoes into a large mixing bowl. Grate the yellow onion. Place the grated onions into a cheesecloth and squeeze out the excess moisture. Add the remaining onion pulp to the bowl with the grated potato.
Add the chopped chiles to the bowl. For extra spice, include the seeds and pith.
Add the egg to the bowl along with the flour, salt and black pepper. Mix well and form into patties, using a few tablespoons per patty.
In a wide, shallow pan, add oil until it is roughly 1 inch deep, and heat on the stovetop to medium hot, approximately 360 F, if you have an oil thermometer. Fry the latkes until the edges start to brown, then flip and continue frying until golden on both sides.
Remove and drain on a plate lined with paper towels, sprinkle with a little salt on the exterior, and serve hot with Mexican crema (crème fraiche) and spiced apple salsa.
Spiced Apple Salsa
Ingredients:
8 large Fuji or other firm apples
1 lemon, juiced
2 ounces piloncillo (Mexican, unrefined brown sugar)
4 ounces water
1/8 teaspoon ground toasted chile de arbol
1 stick Canela (Mexican cinnamon)
Pinch kosher salt
Instructions:
Peel and roughly chop the apples, discarding the cores, tossing the apples with lemon juice to prevent oxidation.
Chop the piloncillo, which is formed into cones. (Piloncillo is available at most Mexican markets, but dark brown sugar can be substituted.)
In a heavy-bottomed pot, add the apples tossed in lemon, chopped piloncillo, water, chile de arbol, canela and pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer on low heat.
Continue cooking until the sugar dissolves, much of the liquid evaporates, and the apples have softened. Stir frequently to prevent the mixture from scorching.Remove the pot from the heat. Remove and discard the canela stick.
Using a bean/potato masher or a heavy whisk, roughly mash the apple mixture.
Ricotta fritters
Mica Talmor, owner and chef, Pomella
“When I was a kid in Israel, our Moroccan neighbor would make sfinge for Hanukkah, a chewy hand-shaped doughnut that she would coat in granulated sugar,” Talmor said. “So years ago, when asked to bring a dessert to a Hanukkah event, I scoured the internet for a sfinge recipe. Because I can’t spell, I landed on Sfingi: a Sicilian ricotta fritter dusted with powdered sugar. Being generally excited about the connection between Sicilian food and North African food, I set out to create a hybrid.”
Talmor’s Ricotta fritters are her take on sfinge. They aren’t on the menu at Pomella, the Israeli-Californian restaurant on Piedmont Avenue, but she has been known to make them for special Hanukkah events. She uses an overnight poolish (a pre-ferment of equal parts flour and water), but Talmor says the secret is the baking powder, which aerates the batter as it hits the hot oil.
“I use cake flour to ensure that the fritters will be tender even though they are pushed through a piping bag, and lots of citrus zest because, according to me, when you make a ricotta dessert, you must use lots of citrus zest,” she said.
Pomella also offers latkes during Hanukkah, and the restaurant is doing community candlelightings on the second and last nights of the holiday, Dec. 8 and 14, with a Donut Savant popup and Klezmer music on the 8th.
Ingredients:
Makes 36 fritters
⅔ cup unbleached organic flour
⅓ cup water
½ teaspoon dry instant yeast
2 cups cake flour, sifted
2 teaspon baking powder
1 ¼ cup whole milk ricotta cheese
4 large eggs
¼ cup cane sugar
4 teaspoon lemon zest
4 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups cake flour, sifted
2 teaspoon baking powder
8 cups canola oil
2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions:
Mix yeast and water together, add the all-purpose flour to make a poolish and leave in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, sift together the cake flour and baking powder. In a stand mixer with the paddle, or by hand, mix together the ricotta, eggs, sugar, zests, vanilla and salt. Add the poolish and the cake flour and let rest for at least half an hour.
Heat oil to 350 F in a heavy, shallow pot.
Using a piping bag (or plastic bag with one corner snipped off), drop tablespoon-sized pieces of dough into the pot. Make sure not to overcrowd the pot. Fry until golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the fritters with a spider (or slotted spatula), and make sure the insides are cooked.
Keep frying in batches until finished. Sprinkle powdered sugar on the cooled fritters through a strainer.
