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December 3, 1999/24 Kislev 5760, Vol. 52, No.14
Latkes = Jewish comfort food
Memories, variations of pancakes make for tasty Hanukkah celebrations
TAMI BICKLEY
Staff Writer
Lynne Wellish, at left, director of special projects at Phoenix Preparatory High School at the Chabad-Lubavitch Center in Phoenix, grates potatoes to be used for latkes, with her mother, Joan Wellish, in the school's kosher kitchen.
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Enter a Jewish-style eatery at Hanukkah time, and you may experience much more than a growling belly.
As intense as the rich aroma of latke (potato pancake) frying oil, may be the accompanying memories. You might find yourself reminiscing about your grandmother grating potatoes and onions in preparation for her mouth-watering latkes. Or maybe you remember the best part -- eating them.
Perhaps a yearning to re-introduce our taste buds to fresh, hot latkes smothered with sour cream or applesauce leads us to visit specialty restaurants that have mastered their own latke creations. Especially during Hanukkah, Chompie's delicatessen at 32nd Street and Greenway Road in Phoenix rescues patron after patron who enter through its doors in droves, hungry for Jewish comfort food.
Although its recipe has altered slightly over the past nine years, Chompie's pretty much adheres to the basics: white potatoes, onions and "a good amount of salt," which, according to Neal Borenstein, Chompie's co-owner, is the key to the tasty latke many Jews have enjoyed at family gatherings over the years.
The latke, a Jewish culinary classic, carries its weight in tradition. And many a novice latke chef has botched a batch at least once, while seeking to duplicate a fond memory.
On the other hand, there are those who, believing that food-based traditions are meant to be taken with a grain of cooking salt, choose to alter Grandma's potato and onion charm with a plethora of additional flavors and alternatives - from zucchini to apples to mushrooms.
Ken Smith, vice president of Smith Investments in Phoenix and president of the Hillel Advisory Council, confesses to having deviated from traditional white potatoes by making latkes with sweet potatoes.
"It's a way to be creative and I wanted to do something different," he says of the recipe he concocted a few years ago. "I used to (host) the annual Hillel party, and by then, everyone was sick of eating regular latkes, so I felt like I had to do something else." Smith says the recipe is a cinch, save for the fact that the secret to success is in the timing.
"Since sweet potatoes have more sugar than regular potatoes, they will caramelize and burn quickly, so you really have to watch them."
Smith also touts his zucchini latkes, which he makes by grating together zucchini and white potatoes.
Rabbi Barton Lee of Hillel labels such vegetable- and fruit-invaded versions of the latke "very California," adding that the only vegetable he would dare use in abundance is an onion.
Lee's preferred traditional variety will come under fire at Hillel tonight (Friday, Dec. 3) at Arizona State University, when faculty members openly debate the question, "Which has culinary superiority - potato latkes or hamantashen (triangular-shaped Purim cookies)?"
According to Lee, the culinary debate began a number of years ago at Hillel at the University of Chicago, then spread to college campuses throughout the country, including Hillel at ASU.
But how can one compare salty, greasy potato pancakes to the pastry-like, jelly-filled sweetness of hamantashen?
"Because," Lee explains, "there are those who feel that the foods for Purim are the highlight of the Jewish calendar year, and those who believe Hanukkah has (one up) on culinary goodness. And at some point, the issue has to be debated. ... Hanukkah is a good time to do that."
Lee says there's no telling the outcome of the debate, or how the winners will celebrate. But participants will share the joy of eating both latkes and
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