Traditional And Non-Traditional Hanukkah Foods

Learn why Jews eat delicious fried foods to celebrate Hanukkah, and read about some delicious traditional and non-traditional treats to enhance your Hanukkah celebration!

The holiday of Hanukkah (sometimes also spelled Chanukah) commemorates the victory, in 139 BCE, of Yehudah ha-Maccabi and his army over the Greeks who inhabited Judea. Upon entering the Temple in Jerusalem, the Jews sought to repair the damage that the Greeks had done and re-consecrate the sanctuary. However, they only found one small flask of olive oil with which to light the menorah - just enough for one day's lighting. Miraculously, the oil in the flask lasted for eight days, long enough to press more oil. For this reason, Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days, during which Jews light the menorah each day.

When Ashkenazi Jews (Jews of European descent) think of Hanukkah, they can almost taste the fried potato latkes - thin pancakes made from shredded potatoes mixed with eggs, fried in oil and served with applesauce or sour cream. However, for the more health-conscious Hanukkah cook, non-traditional latkes can also be made from such healthy ingredients as spinach, shredded zucchini, or sweet potatoes.

Another Hanukkah favorite that comes to everyone's mind is sufganiyot, the Israeli jelly doughnuts also served in large quantities at Hanukkah celebrations. Sufganiyot are a relatively new tradition that originated in modern times in Israel, where the traditional Sephardic fritter came together with the more Ashkenazi filling of jelly or fruit preserves to make a treat everyone enjoys. After frying, sufganiyot are usually coated in confectioner's sugar.

Around the world, Jews have different traditional foods for the eight-day "festival of light" - but one thing these widely varied foods have in common is that they are fried in oil to commemorate the miracle of Hanukkah.

For instance, Libyan and Moroccan Jews enjoy a delicacy called "sfenz" (or sfenj) on Hanukkah. These are fried doughnuts with an exotic twist - their ingredients include orange peel, finely chopped almonds and orange-flower water, and they are dipped in a syrup made of sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and orange-flower water. And from the Greek Jews come "burmuelos," deep-fried fritters also served with a syrup made of honey, sugar and water.

As almost all cuisines offer at least one fried, sweet, "guilty pleasure" food, it is easy and fun to try a new fried delicacy every year at Hanukkah time. Anyone who has ever visited the famous Café du Monde in New Orleans knows that French cooking offers "beignets" (pronounced ben-yays), puffy fried pastries sprinkled liberally with powdered sugar. Italian cooking gives us "zeppoles," which are similar to beignets and are also sprinkled with powdered sugar, but have a chewier texture similar to pizza dough. And of course, anyone who has ever walked down the midway of a county fair is familiar with funnel cakes. Originally a Pennsylvania Dutch specialty but now an American favorite, funnel cakes are made by dropping batter through a funnel into hot oil using a circular motion. The finished funnel cake is dusted with powdered sugar.

© Demand Media 2011