Adopted as Hanukkah food by Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews after the potato reached Poland and Ukraine in the late 1700s. Earlier Hanukkah fritters were ricotta-based (Italian Jewish tradition, 14th century) — the holiday calls for oil-fried foods to commemorate the Temple oil miracle of 165 BCE, and any fried thing qualifies. Potato won because it was cheap, plentiful, and stored through winter in the shtetls.
Adopted as Hanukkah food after the potato reached Polish and Ukrainian shtetls in the late 1700s. Earlier Hanukkah fritters were 14th-century Italian-Jewish ricotta cakes; potato won because it was cheap and stored through winter.
Thin shredded-potato pancakes, edges lacy and dark brown, interior soft and just holding together. Crunch hits first, then potato starch and oil, then the salt. Served with applesauce on one side, sour cream on the other — the table fight over which is correct is part of eating them. If they're greasy and limp, the oil wasn't hot enough; 175 °C minimum.
The squeeze is everything: shredded potato is wrung dry in a towel, then the recovered starch (the white sediment that settles in the squeezed liquid) is stirred back in. That recaptured starch glues the cake together without needing much egg or flour, and crisps to lace at the edge. Skip the squeeze and you fry water — the latkes steam, never crisp, and absorb oil instead of repelling it.
Variations
Polish-Ashkenazi standard uses Russet potato, onion, egg, matzo meal; Sephardic variants in Greece and Turkey use leek (keftes de prasa); Israeli levivot includes sweet potato and zucchini sub-styles in modern Tel Aviv kitchens.
On the Palate
Where Latkes sits in the Israeli flavor cloud
Ingredients
How it's made
6 steps · 45 min
- 14 min
Grate potatoes and onions, then squeeze out excess moisture.
Watch outWring the shredded potato bone-dry in a towel, then stir the white starch that settles in the drained liquid back in — that's the glue that crisps to lace.
- 23 min
Mix with eggs, flour, salt, and pepper.
- 35 min
Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Watch outOil's ready when a shred dropped in sizzles up at once — too cool and the latkes drink oil and steam soft instead of crisping.
- 45 min
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the oil, flatten slightly.
- 58 min
Fry until golden brown on both sides.
Watch outFlip only once the underside is deep golden and the edge sets lacy-brown — poke too early and it falls apart before it crisps.
- 615 min
Drain on paper towels and serve warm.
Archive tool suggestions — not reviewed
These legacy suggestions have not been evidence-reviewed and are not presented as required tools.
