03 Dec
Culture, Latest, Religion

Hanukkah Throwback: Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins

By Sala Levin When you're a child, Hanukkah is truly the most wonderful time of the year.  There's something magical about watching the multi-colored candles add up night after night, about your family stumbling their way through songs whose words no one can entirely remember, even about the gold-wrapped gelt that you gobbled down despite the fact that they tasted vaguely of plastic.  Sometimes it snows, and those are the best years: when you come into the kitchen, your boots trailing snow, to hear latkes sizzling in hot oil and to see a present, neatly wrapped in blue and white paper, sitting at your spot on the table. But then the teenage years come, and then the dreaded adulthood, and Hanukkah is pedestrian, dull--almost, it seems, irrelevant.  No one bothers to grate potatoes for latkes anymore--tradition traded...

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03 Dec
Culture, Latest

Sufganiyot Muffins from Modern Domestic

by Jenna Huntsberger  Hanukkah started Wednesday, which means it’s time to dust off your favorite Hannukah recipes. Because Hannukah celebrates the miracle of the oil, the holiday usually features fried foods – latkes, fried potato pancakes, are the food of choice in the United States, and sufganiyot, fried jelly doughnuts, are the popular treat in Israel. Being a baker, I naturally gravitate to making sufganiyot – and, in fact, I did make them last year. But I’m not much of a deep fryer. I don’t have a fryer myself, and my attempts at frying the doughnuts in my four quart pot didn’t turn out so well – they were overcooked on the outside and barely cooked through. This year, I spared myself the pain, and made sufganiyot muffins instead. Doughnut muffins have been all the rage on the Internet for years,...

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02 Dec
Culture, History, Latest, Religion

The Secret History of Hanukkah

By Gabriel Weinstein Students in Hebrew schools and Jewish day schools learn that Hanukkah is the celebration of the Maccabees’ improbable military triumph and the miraculous burning of the Beit Hamikdash’s (Holy Temple's) Menorah for eight days, a holiday for crooning festive tunes and wagering intense games of dreidel. But Hanukkah’s origins in the Nayrot festival are usually never mentioned during classroom discussions or a meal over latkes. Nayrot (light) was an ancient winter holiday celebrating the increased daylight promised by the winter solstice, and was observed in a way similar to Hanukkah. Nayrot had similar qualities and occurred around the same time as the Greek-Syrian holiday celebrating sun god Kronos-Helios’s birthday, which was observed by Jews and non-Jews in Israel and Greek occupied territories. Households kindled eight flames on a fireboard in their house each night...

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30 Nov
Culture, Latest, Moment Magazine

Recipe: Bumuelos In Red Wine Sauce

Here's another great Hanukkah recipe.  Jews of Spanish origin developed bumuelos or buñuelos—fritters or pancakes fried in olive oil and dipped in honey or sugar syrup or sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar—as sweet Hanukkah treats.  Here's a modern take on the Sephardi classic! BUMUELOS IN RED WINE  SAUCE Makes about 14-15 (Serve 2-3 per portion) For the Bumuelos: 1 cup water ½ cup butter Pinch salt 2 teaspoons sugar 1 ½ cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour 4 eggs Canola oil for frying For the Red Wine Sauce: 2 cups sugar ⅔ cup dry red wine 2 cinnamon sticks 4 whole cloves Prepare the Red Wine sauce first: Mix the ingredients together in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the syrup thickens to the consistency of honey. Keep warm....

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29 Nov
Arts & Culture, Culture, Latest, Moment Magazine

Recipe: Sweet Potato Latkes with Spiced Maple Syrup

With Hanukkah approaching fast, people everywhere are getting excited to dine on treats such as latkes and Sufganiyot (jelly-filled doughnuts).  But after eight days, those delicious dishes can get tiresome.  This year, why not try out a little variation? According to Phyllis Glazer, modern takes on traditional foods are becoming all the rage in Israel (check out her article on the history of latkes in the current issue of Moment here!).  Here is one of our favorites: Sweet Potato Latkes with Spiced Maple Syrup Makes 10-12  (4-6 servings) For the Latkes: 1 pound sweet potatoes 2 eggs ½  teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon baking powder ¼  cup matzah meal Pinch salt Pinch white pepper 2-4 tablespoons light olive oil for frying For the sauce: 1 cup real maple syrup ½  teaspoon grated fresh ginger ¼  teaspoon ground nutmeg Pinch of ground cloves ...

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