Not long after my great-grandmother passed away, a Jewish orphanage she had frequently donated to sent a pamphlet to her home asking for money. It was a sad and ironic testament to her lifelong generosity. My great-grandfather, grieving, was despondent that even in death they asked more from her.
My mother, however, reacted differently. It turned out that once you flipped past the solicitation, the pamphlet provided Hanukkah blessings as well as recipes. So, my mother kept the pamphlet as a token of her memory of her grandmother and her hope for the future.
Now, more than three decades later, my family still uses the latke recipe from that pamphlet (with a couple of modifications).
Ingredients:
3 medium sized potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
1 small onion
2 eggs, well beaten
¼ cup flour
Flaky salt (to taste)
Oil for frying
Directions:
- Peel and grate potatoes. Then, drain the potatoes’ excess water. Mix grated onion, seasonings, eggs, the potatoes and flour in a bowl.
- Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of the frying pan.
- Fry batter by tablespoons until a rich brown appears on both sides.
- Sprinkle generously with flaky salt and drain the excess oil on paper towels.
- Enjoy with sour cream and/or apple sauce! Decide wisely — your choice of topping is very telling.
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