North Jersey deli owners share how to make great latkes for Hanukkah
“How could potatoes with onions, crispy around the edges, with applesauce be bad?” he said. “It can’t.”
While latkes are a year-round treat from Jewish delis to German restaurants to home kitchens in North Jersey and beyond, these simply delicious potato pancakes get extra attention every December during Hanukkah. Kanter said his Livingston deli is preparing to make over 500 latkes in the next few weeks, and it’s the same demand at other delis in North Jersey.
“Every day, we’ll be making potato pancakes next week,” said Michael Brummer of Hobby’s Deli in Newark. He, his co-owner brother, Marc, and their staff are readying to make hundreds this month.
While ordering latke trays from your neighborhood deli is always a good move, there’s also value in making them at home and serving them piping hot. So I asked Kanter, the Brummers and other North Jersey deli owners for tips on how to make these simple treats pop.
What are latkes and why are they eaten during Hanukkah?
Latkes are potato pancakes fried in oil, similar to hash browns, and composed of potatoes (of course), salt, egg, flour or matzoh meal and, typically, onion. It’s a time-tested treat that needs no embellishment to be delicious, but you’ll every so often see variations with vegetables like sweet potatoes, beets, zucchini and more. You’ll also come across cheese-filled latkes, particularly during Hanukkah.
They’re often served with applesauce and/or sour cream, but any condiment you’d eat fried potatoes with will work. Just don’t mind the glances you’ll get if you douse your latkes in ketchup; you do you.
Latkes are traditionally eaten during Hanukkah; eating fried food commemorates how one small jar of oil lasted eight nights in the besieged Jerusalem temple, a miracle on which the holiday is based. For this reason, sufganiyot (or fried doughnuts) are also enjoyed during the holiday.
Tips for making latke potato pancakes
“It’s a very simple thing, a potato pancake,” Kanter said, but if you’ve wrestled with making them at home, you know it can lead to a very messy kitchen and maybe some burned fingertips. But a few refined techniques and fresh ingredients will yield delicious, crispy latkes with minimal fuss.
That said, the first step in making great latkes at home is to forgo the boxed mixes. While those are fine in a pinch, real potato goes so much farther than the dehydrated and powdered stuff. You can do it; it’s honestly not that much more work.
Start with a potato; these chefs recommend a starchy variety like the Idaho potato. Tal Mizrahi, owner of Foster Village Kosher Delicatessen in Bergenfield, uses those and also chef’s potatoes (like a Maris Piper or a Kennebec). You’ll want to get the potato into thin strips either with a cheese grater or a grinder attachment on a stand mixer — both Kanter and the Brummers use this method.
“We make a lot so we grind our potatoes, we don’t shred them,” Michael Brummer said. “And we make them a little fatter than many, that gives it a nice, light texture inside the pancake.”
Latke at the Kosher Nosh in Glen Rock.
Dice a yellow or sweet onion to mix into your latke batter. You can put these in raw or lightly grill them for slightly bigger flavor. All the chefs recommended taking extra care to get as much water out of the potatoes and onions as possible.
“That’s a big thing, when you shred your potatoes and especially when you shred your onions, you get a bunch of water and you gotta get that out,” said Marc Brummer.
“Cheesecloth is great, any type of cloth really,” Mizrahi added. You can use a tofu press too, if you have access to one.
An egg will help bind the latke together, as will flour (as Mizrahi uses) or matzoh meal as (Kanter prefers). Cover the bottom of a saute pan with oil (vegetable oil is fine, though Kanter adds peanut oil will bring a bit more flavor) and carefully heat to a rolling 375 degrees.
“Make sure the heat is right. You’ve got to make sure your oil’s at the right temperature. You don’t want to burn them,” Kanter said. “You have to slowly creep the heat up, keep your pan on low and put the oil in there and then you slowly get the heat up from low to medium heat”
These chefs make latkes about a half-inch thick; Hobby’s latkes are a little fluffier whereas a latke like the one at The Kosher Nosh in Glen Rock will be thinner and uber-crispy. They’re all good, it just depends on what you prefer. Cook until golden brown, serve with your sides of choice and enjoy,
If you’re making latkes in advance, reheat them in a skillet for a crispy pancake or in the oven for a more hands-off, though decidedly less crispy result.
So, it’s a simple process; minding the details will result in a relatively fuss-free, delicious potato pancake. The secret to great latkes, Michael Brummer said, is that, “there really isn’t a great secret.”
If all else fails, order latkes in North Jersey
Latkes cooking at Mikki & Al's Noshery in Montclair
If making latkes at home feels like too much of an endeavor — or, if you think the deli-bought kinds will be better regardless — there’s no shame in ordering a plate or tray from one of North Jersey’s delis.
Put in orders now for latkes from Foster Village, Hobby’s, Eppes Essen, The Kosher Nosh in Glen Rock and Mikki and Al’s in Montclair to be sure you get them for the holidays. And for the record, the Brummers don’t mind if you take credit for theirs.
“That’s why places like us exist. All you need to do is order a pan of latkes, and we give you nice reheating instructions,” Michael Brummer said.
“And then you tell everyone you spent all day making them,” added Marc Brummer. “Your place will still smell like potato and onion so no one will know the difference.”
Matt Cortina is a food reporter for NorthJersey.com/The Record. Reach him at [email protected].
