Thursday Kitchen: What do you eat during Hanukkah?

(from www.courier-journal.com)

Some of you might know that the first night of Hanukkah starts tomorrow. Jews all around the world celebrate the story of a miracle... When the Maccabees ran the Greeks out of their temple. They needed to purify it (of pork and other non-kosher ick), but they only had enough oil to light the temple as they worked for one night. And yet, as the story goes, the oil lasted for eight nights. I'll rant a little more on my thoughts about this holiday tomorrow. For now, I'll talk about the food...

...because, unlike most Jewish holidays, there's no specific meal that one prepares to honor the holiday. Yes, they make latkes... yummy, delicious, fantastic latkes... but, think about it. They didn't make latkes in temple. There were no potatoes in that part of the world. Latkes are an Eastern European thing... as in after Christopher Columbus brought back these souvenirs from his trip to America. The only link between the latkes and the original holiday is the oil.

Because the oil in the temple lasted eight days, Jewish kitchens are filled with cooking oil this time of year. Latkes are traditional, but any fried foods work... like donuts. When I have perused Jewish magazines this time of year, donuts are the next best thing. To me, that all sounds like breakfast. Because, well, latkes are an awful lot like hash browns (but better) and they're really terrific with eggs. Then you have a donut with your tea or coffee. And it's cold outside. What could be better?

There are a couple of other ways to eat latkes (eggs and latkes are just my personal favorite). Some people like to put applesauce on their latkes (it's not bad... especially if you like to mix salty with sweet). Others like sour cream. Some people are getting innovative and making latkes with different vegetables like carrots and parsnips (Click Here for a recipe). For recipes for all things yummy at Hanukkah, visit Chabad.org or click Here.

You've also probably seen those gold coins in some of the grocery stores... it's gold foil wrapped around chocolate. These little treats tend to accompany a spirited game of driedle... or, at least, it's a spirited game with my folks. We don't play for the chocolate coins since my brothers don't care for chocolate (Before you call them freaks, which is a natural reaction, they had a somewhat impressive dairy allergy when they were younger, so, they've never had a reason to develop a taste for the stuff). Instead, we play for popcorn... because there's plenty of it and you can play for a quite some time on popcorn.

(from http://hostedmedia.reimanpub.com)

There are four sides to a driedle. Players take turns spinning it. Each player has a bowl of chocolate coins (or popcorn, if you're my folks). Depending on what side the top lands after you spin, you have to interact with the "pot" in the middle of the playing area. Everyone places some of their own chocolate (or popcorn) into the "pot" after every turn. If you roll a "gimel," you win everything in the pot. If you roll "hey," you take half of what's in the pot. Roll "shin," you have to put extra chocolate (or popcorn!) into the pot in addition to the regular amount you throw in after every turn. If you roll "nun," you get nothing (Sorry).

So, you can guess my family really likes popcorn to play this game. Whatever you play with, the more you have, the longer the game lasts... and if you use popcorn, you can eat while you play!

While I am fond of playing driedle for popcorn, I still include chocolate in my Hanukkah celebrations. We light the candles, say the prayer, and then we exchange gifts (eight little gifts for eight days) while eating clementines and chocolate (either dark chocolate pieces or, oddly enough, chocolate from our advent calendar). It's this ritual that I love the most about Hanukkah. Finding a moment of the day, on all eight days, to slow down and have a snack with your loved ones by candlelight. We're not so good about lighting the candles when "you're supposed to," (which is sundown), but we light them as soon as we can and have ourselves a lovely, quiet night in.

Happy Hanukkah, in advance, to those who celebrate this holiday!