Chanukah -- the Jewish festival of lights -- begins tonight at sundown. So what's for dinner?
Traditional recipes for food, savory and sweet, cooked in oil, are found on Chanukah menus in Jewish communities around the world. Ashkenazi Jewish families, with roots in Russia and Eastern Europe, favor latkes (potato pancakes) while Sephardic Jewish families mark their celebration with fried yeast dough and fritters as well as special cheese dishes.
Cooking in oil is a symbolic representation of the story told during Chanukah of the miracle of the oil, used to rededicate the Temple, after the Maccabee victory over the Assyrians in 166 B.C.E. The Assyrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes outlawed the practice of Judaism and used the Temple in Jerusalem for pagan rituals and practices.
After three years of resistance, the Jewish Maccabees cleaned the Temple and lit a days worth of sanctified oil, all that remained, to rededicate the Temple. The oil burned for eight days.Today, we celebrate the miracle of the oil by lighting candles and eating traditional fried food during Chanukah, the Festival of Frying Lights.
Read more: Chanukah: The Festival of Frying
