Our Hanukkah Celebration Music, Symbolic Foods and Art

Traditional Hanukkah Foods

Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is a Jewish festival celebrated with various traditional foods. While not all these foods have explicit symbolic meanings, some are tied to the holiday's themes of oil, victory, and the miracle of the Temple. Here are traditional Hanukkah foods and their connections:

1. Potato Latkes

These fried potato pancakes are the best-known Hanukkah food. The oil used to fry them commemorates the oil in the temple lamps. Made of shredded potatoes and onions, like hash browns, they are traditionally topped with applesauce and served as a side dish.

2. Kugel

Kugel is a sweet casserole originating in Central Europe, made using egg noodles baked with sugar, eggs, and sour cream. Raisins and spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg can be added. It’s a rich dessert that tops many people’s favorite Hanukkah foods and provides the flavor of many beloved holiday memories.

3. Brisket

A slow-cooked beef dish that is a hearty and flavorful centerpiece for Hanukkah meals.

4. Rugelach

Rolled pastries with sweet ingredients like dried fruit, nuts, or chocolate represent the holiday's sweetness.

5. Sufganiyot

Jelly-filled donuts topped with powdered sugar. They are fried and commemorate the importance of oil in the Hanukkah celebration. The filling can be flavored in several ways; though fruit jelly is standard, sweet custard can be substituted if preferred.

6. Matzo Ball Soup

A traditional Jewish soup featuring matzo balls, symbolizing comfort and sustenance.

7. Applesauce

Often served as an accompaniment to latkes, providing a sweet contrast to the savory pancakes.

8. Gelt (Chocolate Coins)

In the dreidel game, the gelt symbolizes the coins distributed to children during Hanukkah.

In 17 century Europe, it became customary for parents to donate small sums of money to their children to their teachers. The students learned how to give charity in light of commemorating the events of Hanukkah. In the 20th century, an American confectionary manufacturer came up with the idea of making Hanukkah “Gelt” from chocolate. They made the first chocolate-wrapped coins specifically for Hanukkah. The Hanukkah gelt symbolizes the tradition of giving charity to commemorate the Miracle of Light. 

9. Cheese Platter

Judith, a Jewish heroine associated with Hanukkah, fed cheese to an Assyrian general, making him thirsty for wine, which she gave him until he fell asleep.

Our Favorite Hanukkah Songs

Telly from Sesame Street shows 
us how to play the Dreidel Game.

The Food Label Detective: Case. Mini Potato Pancakes, frozen; Manischewitz

The first statement I noticed was the 10 pancakes; then 2 pancakes per container. I was always an excellent math student and this did not add up. It should be 10 servings; unless there is a new math I'm not aware of.

Recommendations. 

1. Manischewitz. You should consider rewriting your label to reflect what is actually in the box.
2. For individuals with special dietary needs, I would hold off using this product until they can verify the nutrition information.

Below is the cooked version of the Mini Potato Pancakes.
The two pancakes weighed 63 grams (prior to cooking.) 

The label above states they should weigh 28 grams.* 

Each pancake measured about 2-inches x 2.25-inches.

*21 CFR 101.9(b)(10)(iii) 

The serving size and servings per container is based on the amount of the product as packaged or purchased needed to make the RACC (Reference Amounts Customarily Consumed) of the prepared product (required). A second column of nutrition information based on the "as prepared" basis may also be presented (optional).

Clearly this label does not provide nutrition information "as prepared." Guesstimated calories of two prepared pancakes using canola oil is about 100 to 125 calories.