Cheese Pancakes

Photo: Sarah Melamed of Food Bridge

Traditional potato latkes are a product of the Eastern European potato filled diet that Ashkenazi Jewry adopted.  But I never thought about the fact that the original macabees weren't eating potatoes.  According to Tastes of The World, "the Maccabees may have eaten a patty made of cheese and egg which was then fried in olive oil."

 Sarah Melamed of Food Bridge has a pancake recipe using cottage cheese, or you can use the recipe below for delicious dairy pancakes.  If you can't find "gvina levana" creamy white cheese, I suggest substituting regular cream cheese, yogurt, or a mix of the two.


Makes about 20 pancakes.
1 container (250 grams/about 1 1/4 cups)  "gvina levana" cream cheese 9% fat or 5% fat
1 container (200 grams/just over a cup) sour cream
2 eggs
 8 tablespoons (200 grams/about 1.5 cups) self-raising flour (Or, for each cup of all-purpose flour, add 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.)
Optional:
1/2 - 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Fresh parsley or other herbs

Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes, then fry in butter or oil until firm.

Here is the original recipe and video in Hebrew.


Happy Chanukah!