Real Chanukah Food

We celebrate Chanukah in a primarily spiritual fashion – lighting candles, Hallel, and Al Ha-Nissim, and there is no obligation to have a special meal.[1] One reason for this is that the threat of the Hellenists was primarily spiritual, not physical. This is in contrast to Purim where the threat was physical annihilation, and hence much of the celebration is physical.[2] Having said that, the Jewish people are gastro-centric and there are definite minhagim regarding the food of Chanukah. 

The earliest mention of a special Chanukah food is found in Rabeinu Nissim’s commentary on Maseches Shabbos[3] where he writes, “Women were involved in the miracle – The Greeks decreed that every woman must spend her wedding night with the Greek governor. And the Midrash[4] relates that the daughter of Yochanan the Cohen Gadol, Yehudis gave the Governor cheese and wine on her wedding night, and when he was drunk, she cut off his head. Because of this it is customary to eat dairy foods on Chanukah.” This is one source for the ruling of the Ramah, who states that “Some say it is customary to have special meals during Chanukah to celebrate the dedication of the Mizbeach. And if songs of praise are sung, the meal is certainly considered a Seudas Mitzvah. And some say it is customary to eat cheese on Chanukah to commemorate Yehudis feeding (Holofernes) cheese before killing him.”[5] The act of bravery of Yehudis apparently helped spark the revolt of the Chashmonaim and put fear into the hearts of the Greeks.

One of the oldest Hanukkah foods, dating back to the 13th century, was the ricotta cheese pancake, fried, of course, in olive oil. This food combined two references to Chanukah, the cheese commemorating Yehudis and her courage, and the olive oil, commemorating the miracle of the Menorah.  Sephardim referred to these pancakes as cassola, Italian Jews called them casciola, from the Italian cascio, cheese. The Yiddish term latke is derived from the Ukrainian word for pancake or fritter, oladka. This word originated from the Greek eladia, meaning “oily things,” related to the Greek elaion, meaning olive oil (which, of course, brings us back to Chanukah) and from which the English word “oil” derives.

The original European latkes, as we have seen, did not use potato, but was made of soft cheese fried in olive oil.  In Eastern Europe where olive oil was either not available or very expensive other oils were substituted. The most common oil in which to fry was schmaltz, animal fat, and therefore the latkes could not be made of cheese. Instead, people used rye batter, buckwheat flour, turnips and other vegetables. Potatoes were first brought to Europe from South America by the Spanish and were originally considered poisonous. They were not widely eaten in Europe until the 18th century, and it was not until the late 19th century that potatoes became acceptable to plant and eat in Eastern Europe. Once potatoes were introduced however, they became the staple of the Eastern European diet and were used by Jews to make latkes, fried in schmaltz. Unfortunately, this evolution of the latke was now missing both references to Chanukah, not having cheese or olive oil in the recipe.[6]   

Anyone who has been to Israel knows that already a month before Chanukah bakeries all over the country begin selling sufganiyot, fried doughnuts, which come in a staggering variety of flavors and styles.  Fillings include the classic jelly, but also halva, chocolate truffle, dulce de leche, crème espresso and mango cream. The Hebrew term sufganiyot is actually a term that is found in the Gemara as sufganin, where their status as matzah is discussed.[7]  Rashi[8] explains that the word means “like a sponge, sfog” and that it is a type of bread-like food. The sufganiyah only became a Chanuka food in the 1920s where it was pushed by the Histadrut trade union in Israel in order to provide much needed employment to workers.[9] However, the fact that it is fried in oil, albeit not olive oil does make it somewhat of a Chanuka dish. In fact, Spanish Jews used to make fritters known as bimuelos, which were fried in oil and dipped in honey or sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar for Chanukah.[10]

So, enjoy your latkes, preferably ricotta cheese latkes, eat a sufganiyah or two, and have a wonderful, joyous, calory-rich Chanukah.

[1] Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, 670:2

[2] Mishnah Berurah ad loc, par. 6

[3] Rabeinu Nissim, Shabbos, Dapei HaRif 10a

[4] Found in the Apocrypha in the book of Judith.

[5] Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 670:2 Ramah

[6] Encyclopedia of Jewish Food by Gil Marks, (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 2010) pp. 352-354

[7] Pesachim 37a

[8] Ad loc.

[9] Marks, p. 566

[10] Eat and Be Satisfied by John Cooper (Jason Aronson, London, 1993) p. 136