New York Today: Lessons Beyond Latkes
Updated, 8:27 a.m.
Good morning on this frosty Monday.
In the same way that Christmas evokes images of Santa Claus and stuffed stockings, Hanukkah, which begins on Saturday, traditionally brings to mind dreidels and menorahs.
And fried food.
Oil is, after all, the magic ingredient central to the Hanukkah story.
The abridged version — and you can read a more in-depth explanation here — is that the ancient temple in Jerusalem housed an eternal flame. When that temple was pillaged by foreign invaders, the remaining oil was barely enough to burn for one more day. But the miracle of Hanukkah is that this tiny amount of oil kept the flame burning for eight straight days.
This is why the holiday is observed for eight nights. And celebrated, both in candles and in food, with oodles of oil.
“Anything that’s kosher and fried is appropriate on Hanukkah,” said David-Seth Kirshner, the former president of the New York Board of Rabbis. “In theory, there is no reason you can’t eat kosher chicken nuggets or French fries, or kosher Kentucky fried chicken.”
“Our caterer at our synagogue likes to make fried Oreos,” he added.
Latkes may be the obvious fried favorite that comes to mind. A somewhat lesser known (but equally central) fried food of Hanukkah?
Doughnuts.
Ahead of the holiday, we went to Long Island City, Queens, to visit Doughnut Plant, which has several sister shops across the boroughs and specializes in doughy, circular masterpieces.
The owner, Mark Isreal — who comes from a long line of Jewish bakers — told us that Hanukkah brings a surge of doughnut-hunting customers who might not otherwise stop in.
To meet the demand, they’re conjuring up a brand new confection called the menorah ripple doughnut.
The menorah ripple is four doughnuts of increasing sizes, fitted snugly within each other, with the largest having the circumference of a typical pizza pie. Cut it in half, and the ends of the doughy semicircles resemble the eight candles of a menorah.
Two of the ripples are filled with the plant’s house-made blackberry jam. The creation is then smeared with a cream cheese glaze, and glowing candles are etched on with all-natural icing.
“But I eat doughnuts every day, whether it’s Hanukkah or not,” Mr. Isreal added. “Everyday I’m celebrating the oil.”
Here’s what else is happening:
Weather
Oh boy, it’s cold again.
With the wind chill, it could feel like the teens. The mercury is set to linger below freezing all day.
The bright side? The sun will be glowing.
And this should be the coldest day this week.
Power through.
In the News
• New York tries to appeal to an ever-more important market: the Chinese tourist. [New York Times]
• Across the country, towns have used local zoning laws as barriers to new mosques and Islamic schools. [New York Times]
• A travertine-paved passageway at the Chambers Street subway station returns to duty. [New York Times]
• Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the Second Avenue subway would open on Jan. 1. [New York Post]
• Hundreds of immigration supporters marched on Trump Tower. [CBS]
• Fifty-seven years after it was due, a copy of “Gone With the Wind” was returned to the Brooklyn Public Library. [New York Times]
• Patti Smith made a surprise appearance at the MoMA. [New York Times]
• The New-York Historical Society will preserve the Post-it notes from the Union Square station. [DNAinfo]
• Tour guides at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum are receiving special training on presenting the history of immigration in a tense political climate. [WNYC]
• Here’s how the fight for sunlight has shaped the city. [The Atlantic]
• Diane Fields’s life was turned upside down after she learned she had cancer, battling not only the disease but also financial problems. [New York Times]
• Today’s Metropolitan Diary: “So Order the Tongue”
• Scoreboard: Giants stomp Lions, 17-6. 76ers narrowly escape Nets, 108-107. Senators dominate Islanders, 6-2. Rangers purge Devils, 3-2 (in a shootout).
• For a global look at what’s happening, see Your Monday Briefing.
Coming Up Today
• Indulge in some Monday Night Magic (and comedy) at the Players Theater in Greenwich Village. 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. [$42.50]
• The 8th Annual Latke Festival, a tasting that celebrates the best and most creative potato pancakes of our city, at the Brooklyn Museum. 6 p.m. [Tickets start at $70]
• William McDonald, the obituaries editor for The New York Times, lectures on the newspaper’s most influential obituaries, at the New York Public Library in Midtown Manhattan. 6:30 p.m. [Free]
• Night 1 of the Empire State Building’s holiday music-to-light show, when its lights will be synced to “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” 7 p.m. [Free]
• “Nutcracker Rouge,” a risqué rendition of the classic, continues at the Irondale Theater in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. 8 p.m. [Tickets start at $90]
And Finally...
How do you spell this holiday, anyway?
The New York Times spells it “Hanukkah.”
Your great-aunt writes “Channukah.”
Your fifth-grade teacher taught you “Chanukah.”
“The reason why it’s tricky is because people have a hard time with the ‘ch,’ ” said Rabbi Kirshner. “Is it a huh? Is it a chuh? Or do we do a hard K?”
The “N” can also be problematic. In Hebrew, he explained, there are vehicles to elongate the “N,” so it may stand alone, but in English we sometimes include an extra “N” to add emphasis.
Permutations and combinations abound. So who wins?
“The real way to know if you’ve said it right is if you get some phlegm on the person in front of you,” the rabbi told us.
“If you say it with a good chuch, you’ve said it right,” he added. “Say it like you have Listerine in your mouth.”
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P.C: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/nyregion/new-york-today-story-of-hannukah-channukah-chanukah-doughnuts-latkes-oil-fried-food.html
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