Latkes

A classic potato latkes recipe, you can’t go wrong with these crispy hot cakes. Serve with applesauce, sour cream and chopped green onions! Potato pancakes, draniki, deruny, latkes, raggmunk or boxties are shallow-fried pancakes of grated or ground potato, matza meal or flour and a binding ingredient such as egg or applesauce, often flavored with grated garlic or onion and seasoning.

The beauty of this food is in its near inability to be bad. After all, we are talking about potatoes crisped up in fat. If you can achieve that, any recipe is sure to be delicious. The most important element of latkes, symbolically and culinarily, might not be the type of potatoes or which binder you choose. Rather, it is the oil in which these Jewish potato pancakes fry. Whether you use chicken schmaltz, a neutral frying oil like peanut or canola, or olive oil, the oil is what makes it meaningful for this time of year.

Cast iron pans are the best tool for frying because they distribute the heat evenly and retain that heat, making sure that the oil temperature does not drop too low after you add each latke.