Frying Feast

Even with eight nights of presents and pretty candles, Hanukkah has a hard time competing with Christmas in the rush of December holidays. (Why should it have to compete at all, you say? We don’t know. It just does.) But there’s a secret weapon that might help make your Hanukkah party twice as delicious as your neighbors’ Jingle Bells blowout: fat.

Hanukkah celebrates the 165 BCE rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem following Antiochus IV’s occupation of Jerusalem; when the temple was reconsecrated, there was only a one-day supply of oil left to light the temple lamps, but the measly amount somehow lasted a full eight days. To celebrate that miraculous oil, Jews are encouraged to eat greasy foods during the holiday, hence the roasted geese, the latkes, and the sufganiyot (Israeli jelly doughnuts). So for this season, we’ve created an all-fried menu to celebrate the Festival of Lights.

Frying food is pretty damned messy but also a whole lot of fun—you might decide to make everything here (all the dishes but the duck-fat latkes are pareve, and could be mixed into another meal) or to just add one or two new recipes to your holiday repertoire.