Photos by Chris Ivey

These gourmet lathes
can become a new
tradition to your
Chtinuka celebration.
Clockwise from top:
The original latke,
apple latkes and
zucchini lathes are
all easy to make.

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Turn traditional
potato pancakes into
a delectable gourmet
dish with these
helpful tips.

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AND CHILDREN'S

HOURS

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Saturday, 10:00-5:00

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West Bloomfield, Michigan

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in the West Bloomfield Plaza)

ANNABEL COHEN
Special to the Jewish News

G

ourmet has nothing to do
with fancy, expensive or
obscure ingredients. In fact
even the most common of
foods can be gourmet. All that's
required is the highest quality of
ingredients and careful preparation
and elegant presentation.
And so it is with Chanuka's most
illustrious comestible. . . the latke.
Few will argue that a perfect latke
is a thing to behold, not to mention

bite into. The crust, golden and
crunchy, upon first bite should give
forth a small cloud of steam. The fla-
vor, fresh and well seasoned, should
merely hint of onion and salt, so as not
to overpower. Inside, the latke is fluffy,
not gummy, and just cooked through.
Oh yes, there is an art to the latke.
But human nature often urges us
to go beyond that which is simply
delicious. We seek to improve,
embellish and transcend. There are
always new ingredients to be discov-
ered and utilized. What evolves often
can turn excellence into sheer culinary
joy. And so it is with lathes.
The good news is that it's easy to
turn a simple potato pancake into a
delectable gourmet dish. Latkes, are
Ashkenazi terms for any type of pan-
cakes. Some call them by different
names — levevot, fashfushtes and
others. The one thing all have in
common is the round shape, and the
method of cooking, frying in oil or
another fat, such as schmaltz, the ren-
dered fat from poultry.
LATKE on page 12