Cheese Latke Recipe for Hanukkah

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, commemorates the victory of a small group of Jews (known as the Maccabees) over the army of the Hellenistic Syrian King Antiochus in the second century BCE. After the Jews drove the Greeks out of Judea, they attempted to restore their temple, which had been destroyed in the war, only to discover that there was just enough oil to light the lamp that held the eternal flame for one day. The story is that a miracle occurred, and the small amount of oil lasted for eight days, which was how long it took to make new oil. This is why Hanukkah lasts for eight days.

 

Hanukkah Foods

It is traditional therefore to celebrate the holiday by eating food cooked in oil. In Israel, they eat jelly doughnuts called sufganiyot, and Sephardic Jews make dough fritters called buñuelos, that are like beignets. The most well-known Hanukkah food for Eastern European, and by extension American, Jews are potato pancakes called latkes that are traditionally served with sour cream and applesauce.

 

All About Latkes

Most people assume that latkes have always been made from potatoes, but in fact, potatoes are a relatively recent addition to the Hanukkah culinary tradition. Potatoes are a New World food, meaning that no-one in eastern or western Europe were eating potato anything before the 1500’s. Moreover, it took several centuries before the people of Europe overcame their skepticism about many of the foods from the Americas, including potatoes. Indeed, potato latkes only became popular in the mid 1800’s when Polish and Ukrainian farmers began planting potatoes – after a series of crop failures – as a inexpensive and easy-to-grow alternative to grains.

Would it blow your mind if I told you that the original latkes were made of cheese? But they were. In fact, the tradition of eating fried pancakes or fritters for Hanukkah comes from Italy, where the pancakes were originally made from ricotta cheese.

 

Cheese Latkes

Latkes made from cheese are not so strange when one learns that, since the Middle Ages, there has been a custom (or minhag) of eating dairy foods on Hanukkah to honor the Jewish heroine, Judith. According to the ancient tale – which is much loved but not even part of the Hebrew bible for reasons too complicated to relate – Judith helped to secure an important military victory by plying an Assyrian general, Holofernes, with salty cheese, which made him thirsty. When the general passed out from all the wine he drank, Judith beheaded him and saved her town from certain destruction. During the Middle Ages, the story of Judith became associated with Hanukkah and thus the custom of celebrating the holiday with dairy foods was born.

While cheese latkes may not be as well-known as their potato counterparts, they are a delicious, lightly sweet treat that is well worth a place on your holiday table – especially for breakfast or brunch. Many recipes for cheese latkes incorporate cottage cheese or farmer’s cheese, what my grandmother would have called “pot cheese,” both common ingredients in other traditional Jewish dairy dishes, like blintzes. 

 

However, I like to honor the original Italian tradition by making cheese latkes with creamy ricotta cheese. These pancakes are strikingly similar to those fluffy lemon ricotta pancakes, often served with blueberries or other fruit, which have become a staple of restaurant brunch menus. Indeed, I add lemon zest and a splash of lemon juice to my batter because lemon is such a perfect pairing with both ricotta cheese and olive oil. And, of course, lemons and other citrus are in season in the winter, the season when Hanukkah falls. Read more about ricotta and how to make ricotta.

 

Sweet Cheese Latkes Recipe

These pancakes are lightly sweet, so finish them with a dusting of powdered sugar or a drizzle of syrup or honey. They make a lovely treat for a weekend morning during the eight-day festival of Hanukkah.

Makes approximately 20 pancakes

1 cup ricotta 

3 large eggs

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Zest of 1 lemon

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

1. Combine the ricotta, eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla, lemon zest and juice in a blender and puree until smooth. The batter will be relatively thin.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil just to coat the bottom. When the oil is shimmering, measure out about 2 tablespoons of the pancake batter and add it to the skillet.  You should be able to fit 3 or 4 pancakes in the skillet at a time, but do not overcrowd it.

3. Cook the pancakes until bubbles begin to appear on the surface and the bottom is set and golden, around 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until the second side is golden brown and the interior is cooked through, another minute or two. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more oil and adjusting the heat as necessary.

4.  Serve the pancakes immediately with powdered sugar, syrup or honey.