Hanukkah is the most underrated food holiday. It’s literally a holiday where fried food is holy. I mean fried food is always holy (because it’s just out of this world delicious), but no one ever thinks about Hanukkah food when thinking of Jewish food. That’s probably because it’s different than other Jewish holidays in that there isn’t a traditional main course, but you can’t forget about these unsung side dish heroes.
Since this holiday revolves around fried food, which fills you up fast, you have to save your appetite for the true highlights of the Hanukkah celebration, (which is harder than you might think — considering it’s eight days long). If you’re wondering where to invest your eating energies, check out this food guide from Hanukkah’s self-proclaimed number one fan.
5. Gelt
Gelt gets an honorable mention for being important to the Hanukkah tradition, but it barely even deserves that. I mean it’s milk chocolate, and anything milk chocolate is just inferior to it’s dark chocolate counterpart. Plus, most gelt is made of the chocolate that seriously resembles candle wax. Gelt has a special place on the shelf at my house next to the unwanted Halloween candy that no one has the heart to throw away.
4. Apple Sauce
Okay, this is more of a side dish than a shining main course, but you still have to give a shout out to the homemade apple sauce makers for taking it to the next level. Let’s be honest, though, apple sauce isn’t really a Hanukkah food unless you pair it with its other (better) half, latkes.
3. Sfinge
Now we’re really getting into the spirit of Hanukkah. Any sort of fried food is fair game for this holiday, and while sfinge is one of the lesser known recipes, it’s worth checking out. It takes way less time to make than the traditional doughnut, so you can get to the actual eating part (the best part) of cooking earlier, and isn’t that the whole point?
2. Latkes or Levivot
Latkes are really where it’s at. You can’t celebrate Hanukkah without latkes, and these days, the trendy food gang has found ways to transform the recipe from plain potato, to sweet potato, to even zucchini. I’m telling you, Hanukkah gives you an excuse to fry basically anything — as long as you call it a latke. These fried potato pancakes are only in second place because there is just no food delicious enough to dethrone number one.
1. Doughnuts or Sufganiyot
Doughnuts are arguably the best part of Hanukkah (and also life). Whether you’re pro or anti jelly (it has no place in my doughnut), everyone loves warm, fried dough covered in powdered sugar. This food item is really the point of celebrating Hanukkah. It’s an excuse to eat ten doughnuts in one sitting and not feel guilty — because, c’mon, it’s a mitzvah.
Whatever your traditions are, I hope you eat some sweet treats this holiday season. And, whether or not you actually celebrate Hanukkah, you can still use this holiday as an excuse to binge your favorite fried foods. However, if you do celebrate, follow this guide to make the most informed decisions possible.