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Eric Vellend
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Celebrate Hanukkah with homemade applesauce

November 28, 2007 03:14 PM
 
 
You don't have to be a rabbi to know that the cornerstone of Hanukkah's Feast of Lights is the latke. Crisp and onion-y with enough salt to raise your blood pressure a few points, this fried potato pancake is worthy of its own eight-day celebration called Latkkah.

While I like my latkes straight up, the classic accoutrements are sour cream and applesauce. (My uncle sprinkles sugar on his but this eccentric pastime has yet to catch on.)

If you are going to go to the trouble of making your own latkes this Hanukkah, you might as well make your own applesauce to go with them. It's quick, easy and much better than anything from a jar.

The key to perfect applesauce is a food mill. A food mill purees and strains foods, so it allows you to cook the apples with their skins on, which adds a ton of flavour, not to mention a pinkish blush to the finished sauce. A great tool for making potato gnocchi, perfect mashed potatoes and rustic tomato sauce, a food mill is a worthy addition to your kitchen arsenal.

Other than the insipid Red Delicious, you can turn just about any variety of apple into sauce. However, the right apple for the job is the Macintosh. Born and bred in Ontario, this local favourite is tart, juicy and dissolves quickly when cooked.

Since latkes are best enjoyed hot and crisp, take the applesauce out of the fridge for a few hours to let it come to room temperature.

If the word treyfe is not in your vocabulary, try serving this applesauce with roast pork. Yes, I know it is sacrilege to mention pork in a Hanukkah article, but I am only half Jewish and my goyishe doppelganger is allowed to dine on swine during the 12 days of Christmaskah.

Applesauce

Yield: 6 cups

4 lbs Macintosh apples, washed

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup water

Cut the apples into quarters. With a paring knife, remove the stems, cores and flower ends and cut each quarter in half. Place the sliced apples and the rest of the ingredients into a large stainless steel pot. Bring to a boil over a high heat, cover and reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer the apples, stirring occasionally, until the apples are very soft, about 20 minutes. Remove the cover and let the apples cool for 10 minutes.

Place a food mill over a bowl large enough to comfortably fit all the applesauce. Pass the cooked apples through the food mill. Let the applesauce cool completely before transferring it to airtight containers. Applesauce will keep for at least a week in the fridge and up to a year in the freezer. If you are freezing it, place a piece of plastic wrap over the exposed part of sauce to prevent freezer burn.