fbpx

Spring pancakes

A moment before going into the operating room, sometime in Israel in the 1950’s, Grandpa Yano turned to the Master of the Universe and asked God to watch over him.
[additional-authors]
March 12, 2015

A moment before going into the operating room, sometime in Israel in the 1950’s, Grandpa Yano turned to the Master of the Universe and asked God to watch over him. In exchange, he solemnly vowed, he and his family members would obey the commandments as his father’s father’s father did for generations before him in Europe. 

Upon his discharge from the hospital, healthy and in one piece, still overcome by the miracle he had been granted, he rushed to fulfill his promise to the Holy One, blessed be He. Grandpa Yano and Grandma Ilkeleh threw out all their old pots, pans, dishes, and silverware and koshered the kitchen, which had known more than a few treif days. Ever afterwards, they were careful about separating milk and meat, and tucked away in the overhead storage space, they kept a set of Passover dishes.  

Every year, a package of walnuts sent via airmail from Slovakia landed in their village by way of the red mail truck; it heralded the return of spring. The walnuts, still in their shells, were sent by the neighbors Grandma Ilkeleh and Grandpa Yano had left behind in 1949. When Mom and her brother were given white shoes and white holiday clothes as presents, it was a second sign that Passover was on the way –the time had come to roll up sleeves because the regular tableware needed to be changed over to Passover dishes. 

The ritual took many hours. First, they emptied the kitchen cabinets and washed the shelves well, rooting out any and all forbidden crumbs. They took down the Passover dishes from the overhead storage space and packed away the regular dishes into boxes for the remainder of the holiday. At the end of this changing of the guard, dog-tired and utterly done in, they sat down for the traditional lunch of Passover Eve. Since the pots were already full of delicacies being cooked for Seder, it was only a light meal – well, as light as their meals ever got.

In those early days, right after the formation of the State of Israel, the village was filled with honking geese. On the eve of the holiday, Grandma Ilkeleh amazed everyone by sautéing livers, soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, accompanied by downy hills of mashed potatoes: the first taste of Passover. 

Amongst the Festival of Freedom's delicacies, along with the Maceszos Kávé, Maceszgombóc and Maceszos Tojás (coffee with matzo, matzo balls and matzo brie, respectively) that made their exodus from Egypt – in Hungary, at least – are Kremzli, or latkes (pancakes). Minus the Menorah, the spinning top, and the can of oil, in and around Budapest they fry potato pancakes for Passover, as well. Grandma Ilkeleh did this, too, with or without King Antiochus of the Chanukah story. Because who says miracles only happen on Chanukah?  

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons goose fat
  • Sugar to taste
  • Ground cinnamon to taste
  • 4 tablespoons ground walnuts
  • Lemon zest
  • 10 tablespoons matzo flour
  • Oil
  • Powdered sugar

 

Beat the eggs and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir well to make a uniform batter. 

Form patties and fry in oil until golden. 

Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve. 

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

The Beat Goes On

While so much of the world seems obsessed with and consumed by its hatred of Israel and Jews, Israelis continue to build, create, work, celebrate, argue, raise families, and plan for the future.

Viral AI Video Targets Jewish Comedian

“The biggest concern is that people now have a pathway to shut down Jewish voices through complete falsities that people will believe. … For the future of Jewish entertainment, it’s very scary.”

Yiddish Historians: Writing in Their Own Language for Their Own People

Mark Smith has compiled an important anthology of Jewish history using 49 works by Yiddish historians to recreate or at least open the door to a world of Jewish thought that was once almost mainstream, but which no longer exists, except in the minds of too few specialists.

The Everlasting Melody

Most Jews who have sung “Eitz Chaim” over the past half-century probably never knew Portnoy. They did not know when he wrote the melody or how young he was when he composed it. They simply knew the song.

Who’s Really the Victim?

Those who would revel in Israel’s demise are claiming victimhood on every front and denying attacks on us in the same breath.

Biblical Deterrence

After Oct. 7, the sentiment in Israel toward the Iranian leadership was unequivocal: You went medieval — so we will go biblical.

How Sukkot Makes Us Whole

This year, I bless us that we open our eyes to truly see the beauty and the holiness of the world, and of the person before us at each and every moment, and to see the godliness of their aspirations and their fears.

The New Ushpizot

Ushpizin invite us to “welcome in our ancestral constellation and dwell amongst them.” This year, it’s Ushpizot, for the women. It’s the year of the Feminist Visitation.

Macklemore, Or Less

In between his songs, he proclaimed, “Free Palestine,” which is fine, asserted that opposing Israeli military actions is not antisemitic, which is accurate, and accused Israel of apartheid and genocide, which is offensive, untrue and hateful.

The Rokeach’s Remarkable Sukkah

To Rabbi Eleazar ben Judah of Worms (1176-1238), the medieval German pietist known as the Rokeach, the sukkah symbolized Jewish military might.

The Sukkah and the Power of Endurance

They can destroy our Temples, demonize us in social media, shower us with hate, but they can’t destroy a spirit that never stops building. That enduring spirit is the power of the sukkah.

NY Mag’s Habibi City

A satirical response to Zaina Arafat’s erasure of Jews in her New York Magazine article “Habibi City,” written as Zaina Arafat.

The ‘Fauda’ Enigma

In many of the nations that believe Israel has no right to exist and routinely root for terrorists to slaughter Jews, a TV show that depicts Israeli covert operatives outsmarting and dispatching Arabs has an inexplicably loyal global audience.

Jewish Democrats Cave to Anti-Semites

Those of us who are not of the Democrat politic party have believed that the Democrats have done little to stop the disease of Jew hatred from infiltrating their party.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.