84
Friday, December 14, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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To: The Jewish News
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COOKING
17515 W. 9 Mile Rd.
Suite 865
Southfield, Mich. 48075-4491
he Chanukah miracle in food
Virtif AST
BY GLORIA KAUFER GREENE
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It is quite customary to eat
foods fried in oil during
Chanukah. They symbolically re-
call the miracle of one day's worth
of oil that burned for eight in the
ancient Temple.
Dairy foods are also eaten, but
for a completely different reason.
This is to recall the story of the
beautiful widow, Judith, who
saved her Jewish community
from almost certain destruction.
Judith arranged to dine with the
enemy general, then fed him
great quantities of salty cheese,
which drove him to drink so much
wine that he collapsed into a
drunken stupor. She immediately
killed him, sending his soldiers
fleeing in fear. Her bravery is said
to have inspired the Maccabees.
Following are some Chanukah
recipes:
CHANUKAH BURMEULOS
OR LOUKOUMADES
These fried "honey puffs" are
the most traditional Chanukah
treat for Sephardic Jews who
come from Greece and Turkey.
Burmeulos (or bimuelos) is the
pastry's Judeo-Spanish name,
loukoumades (or loukoumathes)
is its Greek one, and lokma is its
Turkish one.
The following are- irregularly
shaped, yeast-raised doughnuts
that are drenched in a honey
syrup. Occasionally, they are
coated with confectioner's sugar
instead of syrup.
BATTER
1 packet (about 2% tsps.) active
dry yeast
1 cup warm (105-115 degrees
F.) water, divided
% tsp. sugar
1 large egg
2 cups enriched all-purpose or
unbleached white flour
1 /4 tsp. salt
HONEY SYRUP
1 cup sugar
3 /4 cup water
% cup honey
1 tbsp. lemon juice
FOR FRYING AND GARNISH
Vegetable Oil
Ground cinnamon, as desired
For the batter, mix together the
yeast, 1/2 cup of the water, and the
sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Let
the yeast mixture rest about 5
minutes or until frothy. Stir in the
remaining batter ingredients
until smooth. The batter should
be very loose and sticky. Cover the
bowl loosely and let the batter rise
for 1 hour. (If necessary, the bat-
ter_ can be stirred down at this
point and allowed to rise another
30 minutes.)
While the batter is rising, pre-
pare the honey syrup. Mix to-
gether all the ingredients in a
2-quart (or similar) saucepan, and
slowly bring to a boil over
medium-high heat, stirring only
until the sugar dissolves. Reduce
the heat slightly, and boil the
syrup for 5 minutes. Remove it
from the heat, and set it aside to
cool to room temperature.
When the batter has risen, stir
it down. Put enough oil in a large
saucepan (or a wok) so that it is
about 11/2 inches deep. Heat the oil
until it is very hot, about 375 de-
grees. Dip a teaspoon into the oil,
Apple latkes, top, can be enhanced with a dairy topping made with
Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese. The latkes can be accompanied by a
fruit salad accented with bits of ca ndied fruit.
APPLE LATKES
1 cup flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsps. Parkay margarine,
melted
1 cup shredded peeled apple
1 8-oz. pkg. Philadelphia
Brand cream cheese, sof-
tened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tbsp. sugar
and then use, it to scoop up a small
portion of the batter. Gently drop
the batter into the oil. (Keep your
opposite hand wet, in case you
need-it to nudge the batter off the
spoon. The batter will not stick to
wet hands.) The dollop of batter
will quickly puff up to almost
twice its original size. Make some
more puffs in the same manner,
but do not crowd the pan.
Fry the puffs, turning them oc-
casionally with a slotted spoon,
until they are browned and very
crisp. Drain them briefly on paper
toweling (or on the rack that at-
taches to some woks). Then drop 1
or 2 at a time into the cooled
syrup.* Use a different spoon or
tongs (so the syrup will not get
oily) to turn the hot puffs in the
syrup so they become completely
coated with it. Lift the puffs up,
and let the excess syrup drain off.
Put the puffs on a large plate. Re-
peat the frying and dipping proc-
ess until all the batter is used.
Then sprinkle the puffs gener-
ously with cinnamon. For best
taste and texture, serve them as
soon as possible.
*Note: If desired, the honey
puffs may be fried in advance, and
coated with hot syrup just before
serving. Some Sephardic cooks
prefer to stir about 1 teaspoon
cinnamon into the syrup, and
then let each guest pour a bit of
syrup over his or her own serving
of puffs. In some households, pur-
Combine dry ingredients. Add
combined milk, egg and mar-
garine, mixing just until mois-
tened. Fold in apple. For each
latke, pour 2 tablespoons batter
onto hot, lightly greased griddle.
Cook until surface is bubbly; turn.
Continue cooking until golden
brown.
• Combine cream cheese, sour
cream and sugar, mixing until
well blended. Serve with latkes.
Yield: about 1 1/2 dozen.
Variation: For dessert sauce,
add 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/4
teaspoon cinnamon.
chased pancake syrup is used.
Another easy alternative is: 1 cup
honey mixed with 1/4 to 'A cup
water and heated just until
blended and hot; use while warm. .
Makes about 3 dozen honey
puffs.
KOEKSISTERS
This delicious South African
specialty looks like glistening,
miniature challah breads.
Though koeksisters are so popu-
lar in South•Africa that Jews (and
others) eat them throughout the
year, particularly at afternoon
"teas," this oil-fried treat seems
especially appropriate for
Chanukah.
SYRUP
1% cups sugar
1 cup water
2 tbsps. honey
1 tbsp. lemon juice
Pinch of ground cinnamon
(optional)
DOUGH
2 cups enriched all-purpose or
unbleached white flour
tsps. baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 tsps. butter of margarine,
softened
% cup milk or water
1 egg yolk
FOR FRYING
Vegetable oil
First, prepare the syrup so it