Kaese Latke/Cheese Latkes

For Hanuka I decided to revive a long-dead tradition of the cheese latke. Hanuka is traditionally considered a dairy holiday, and one of the most popular dishes was a cheese pancake. However, pancakes are usually fried. In Eastern Europe, the most common form of fry oil was goose or chicken fat. Due to kosher rules, Orthodox Jews cannot fry cheese pancakes in oil extracted from meat. This led to the falling out of the cheese pancake among Ashkenazi Jews, since other forms of oils were generally too expensive. Potato latkes are a much later creation, with potatoes not growing in Eastern Europe until the early 1800s, almost 300 years after the cheese latke!

However, in the modern day fry oil without meat is very common. Likewise, Jews around the Mediterranean and in richer Western Europe still preserved the cheese latke. I adapted the recipe from Gil Marks z''l Encyclopedia of Jewish Food.

1 cup of farmers/pot/drained ricotta cheese (I used unsalted farmer's cheese)

2 eggs

6 tablespoons of flour

1 tablespoon sugar or honey (I used brown sugar)

1/4 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 kosher salt

Fry oil or butter (I used corn oil)

The instructions are rather simple:

Combine the eggs, flour, cheese, sugar/honey, vanilla and salt in a bowl. Mixed until it becomes like pancake batter. Heat up the oil on medium heat. Then use a tablespoon to scoop up batter and fry until the top is set and the bottom is just a bit browned. Flip and fry until golden.

They taste somewhere between pancakes and cheesecake, with a slight sour aftertaste. You might want to add toppings. I added maple syrup myself but I've heard it goes well with yogurt, jam, or even fresh fruit. Me and my Mom finished these and a second plate off quickly. They're not, in my opinion, very similar tasting to potato latkes, but they are delicious. I highly recommend them.