YULE LOVE IT (Page 1 of 2)

A greasy-good tradition

Chanukah potato pancake recipes cook up family memories, savor culture’s past

By Elisha Sauers

If first impressions mean everything, the Brody family knows how to make a festive one.

On a recent evening at her West Knoxville home, Mimi Brody’s front stoop lets the neighbors know what time of year it is. A flag hangs beside the door adorned with menorah and dreidel patches, twinkle lights outline the door and other signs accessorize the holiday outfit. “Oh, Mackenzie did that,” she says of the decorations while greeting at the door, beaming with pride for her 13-year-old grandson’s handiwork. Then, a waft of the latke ingredients hits the nose and gives its aromatic greeting.

Latkes, a traditional cuisine that coincides with the eight-day Jewish holiday known as Chanukah, are potato pancakes fried in oil, but for many Jewish families, including the Brodys, it’s not just a tasty indulgence but a cultural legacy. Brody, a 60-something employee at St. Mary’s Hospital, learned how to make latkes from her mother and father in Atlanta where she grew up, and her father, who came from a family of Latvian immigrants, learned from his mother. Like most families, the recipe has been passed down through many generations, as Brody has taught her two adult daughters Melissa and Holly.

“My mom and dad always made latkes from scratch, and they always made them together,” says Brody. “My daughters have watched me cook, and they make my recipes, too. They’re very much ‘mom’s girls’ in that respect.”

The same staple ingredients are usually involved: potatoes, eggs, oil, onion, flour and salt. But minute differences still abound. The Brodys grind their potatoes. Joan Cohn, another Knoxville resident known for having potato pancakes down to a science, grates her potatoes. Some families ring the water out of the potatoes with a towel. Others add baking powder to lighten the color. Some use Crisco. Some swear by canola. Some use a ready-box mix. Quantities vary. And while the discrepancies might seem immaterial, it could mean the difference between greenish, rubbery pancakes and crispy, golden brown ones.

Over the crackling of latke batter hitting the raging pan of oil, Brody laughs, shares stories of her mother and father, her sister Regina and brother Sam, and her five grandchildren while tending to an ample glass of rosy wine. It’s the atmosphere of latke-making that puts her in the mood for storytelling. “There’s nothing like – whatever your ethnicity – walking into that house and smelling the smells of your foods,” she says. “It’s the anticipation of knowing you’re not going to be disappointed.” A moment later, she interrupts herself to point out the importance of not overcrowding the pan with two many pancakes at a time.

Deborah Oleshansky, director of Hillel at the University of Tennessee, agrees making latkes and passing down the recipes to her daughters Bryna and Rae provide priceless family time. “One of our traditions is to have latkes as dinner one night with smoked salmon, chopped egg, capers and sour cream – like blinis but with latkes instead of buckwheat pancakes. They are delicious!” says Oleshansky. “Bryna has always been our ‘little Martha Stewart’, and when she was younger, she loved to make these ‘pretty’ and display them with care on the serving platter. When she has time, she still likes to be in the kitchen to arrange things in a pretty way on serving platters.

“My daughter Rae has always enjoyed measuring flour, and when she was younger, when I was cooking latkes, or almost anything else, I would set her up with flour, measuring cups, butter knife and bowl. She would measure and re-measure flour over and over while I cooked. As she got a bit bigger, she loved to press the button on the food processor to grate the potatoes without scraping knuckles, and she still loves working with the food processor.”

Even when latkes are eaten at different times of the year, it’s nearly impossible for the food to be separated from its Chanukah origins. The symbolism is built right into the food itself. Latkes, as well as other foods that are cooked in oil, are consumed on the holiday as a reminder of the reason for the “Festival of Lights.”