Why is frying traditional for Hanukkah?
Jews call Hanukkah the Festival of Lights, but it could just as easily be called the Festival of Oil. The holiday, which begins at sundown Monday, commemorates the 2nd century BCE uprising of the rebellious Jewish Maccabees against the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, who at the time was ruling Palestine.
The victorious Maccabees returned to the Temple in Jerusalem to find it in terrible shape. Not only had the grounds been destroyed, the altar desecrated, but the king’s troops had defiled all but one of the sealed containers of sacred olive oil used to keep the branched candelabrum, the Menorah, burning day and night.
The so-called “miracle of the oil” is that one container, only enough for one day, burned for eight, enabling the Jews to restore the Temple and obtain more sacred oil.
It is to celebrate the miraculous qualities of the sacred oil that Jews traditionally fry Hanukkah foods.
In the Ashkenazic tradition, celebrants fry that most ubiquitous Eastern European vegetable, the potato, and end up with latkes, potato pancakes. Jews from the Sephardic tradition fry soufganiot, jam-filled balls of dough.
If you can fry your Hanukkah treats in olive oil, so much the better. (And, even better, excellent olive oils are imported from Israel.)
Olive oil has a reputation as a poor medium for frying, and it is true that if you were operating a fast-food restaurant and had to fill up your fryolator with something that could handle 20 batches of French fries in six hours, you’d be wise to use a highly refined soybean or peanut oil.
But even extra-virgin olive oil will hold up fine to pan-fry a few dozen latkes or even to deep-fry a few dozen soufganiot. (Though in the case of deep-frying, using a couple of quarts of extra-virgin olive oil can run into money.)
The most important thing to keep in mind when frying is that the oil should stay as hot as possible. Every time you add something cold (e.g., a pile of grated potatoes, a spoonful of raw dough), it wants to cool down.
Here are tips if you are frying this Hanukkah:
1. Use a heavy pot that retains heat. Cast iron is ideal.
2. Use plenty of oil.
3. Don’t fry too many items at one time.
