For Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, Vancouver chefs whip up donuts, latkes, and more
The Jewish fest is centred on sharing, with fried foods on the family table
The Lazy Gourmet is including dreidel cookies in its Hanukkah gift boxes. Photo by the Lazy Gourmet
WITH FRIED FOODS being on the menu to celebrate Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish wintertime festival of lights, the Lazy Gourmet founder Susan Mendelson has in the past come up with creative ways to get the whole family involved in the kitchen.
“I’ve been known to have Hanukkah parties where we make our own donuts,” the Vancouver culinary stalwart tells Stir. “I get a couple of deep fryers going on the counter. The kids come along as the donuts come up then stuff them with a piping bag with passionfruit filling or chocolate or jelly, or roll them in cinnamon sugar or icing sugar. It’s a lot of work—I won’t pretend it’s not—but it’s a lot of fun.”
This year, Hanukkah runs from December 10 to 18. At the heart of the festival is nightly menorah lighting. The Hebrew word Chanukah means “dedication,” as it celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, after a small band of Jews drove Greeks from the land in the second century BCE. When they went to light the temple's menorah (a seven-branched candelabrum), they found a one-day supply of oil—which miraculously ended up lasting eight days.
The Lazy Gourmet’s potato latkes.
“We celebrate for eight days with candles,” Mendelson says, “and because of the oil, we eat fried foods.”
This is the 42nd year that the Lazy Gourmet has been in operation and, having established it as a catering company for large-scale events, Mendelson has had to rethink everything it does because of the pandemic. She now offers Zoom cooking classes, with participants receiving a box of ingredients in advance so everyone can prepare a meal together, virtually. The Lazy Gourmet also creates all sorts of gift boxes, holiday menus, and seasonal meals for pickup or delivery, including some for Hanukkah.
The LG Chanukah Gift Boxes contain items like latkes (fried potato pancakes), large or bite-size, with sour cream and house-made spiced apple sauce; and pastry chef Rebecca Rancier’s cookies in the shape of dreidels, which are four-sided spinning tops with Hebrew letters on each surface. Then there are Mendelson’s mini donuts and, to play with the real dreidels that are included, chocolate coins from Purdy’s. Some boxes feature wine and candles.
Menajem Peretz, executive chef and owner of Chef Menajem Catering, a premium Vancouver kosher catering company, has also pivoted by offering take-out options, including Hanukkah meals and Friday night dinners called Shabbath in a Box.
Originally from Buenos Aires, Peretz left Argentina in his early 20s to finish his studies in Israel. He lived throughout the United States and in Mexico City before moving to Ottawa in 2003, working as executive sous chef at the National Art Gallery of Canada. In 2011, he moved to Vancouver, falling in love with the city, the culture, and the people, and opening his business.
Chef Menajem Peretz is originally from Buenos Aires.
“I have always said that my passion from food comes from watching my grandmother who had Italian origins,” Peretz tells Stir. “She loved to cook and expressed her love to her family through food. We were a big family and of course Sunday was the day that we all gathered and there always was a feast. Cooking allows me to always keep those memories alive. My house today reflects that passion and opening my kitchen, hosting, and preparing food is a way to express my love not just for what I am doing but also for those I am doing it for.
“Hanukkah is always a holiday of sharing and happiness, where typical fried foods are shared along with gifts with family and friends,” he says. “Food is always the centre of Hanukkah. This year is a challenge, but sharing is still there, and people are buying small boxes and sending them to their loved ones, friends, and colleagues. Although the pandemic is still here, it hasn’t broken the spirit of sharing and hope.”
Among the foods Chef Menajem is offering this season are latkes and traditional sufganiot—donuts stuffed with jam and sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar—and less traditional churros and empanadas.
His Hanukkah sushi box includes challah along with California rolls, wonton soup, sweet-and-sour chicken with fried riced, assorted mini sufganiot, goma-ae salad, and more.
“I enjoy my time in the kitchen, creating new spins on old classics and favourites,” Menajem says. “I also love that this passion allows me to give back to my community, especially in times of difficulty. Food is a comfort, we celebrate with it, we commiserate with it. I get to share in peoples’ special moments, and this I love.”
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