Jewish

A vegetable and herb filling adds another element to an unusual and impressive version of a classic Passover main course.

Haman's pockets, or Hamantaschen, were brought to this country by Jews from the eastern part of Germany and Eastern Europe. Hamantaschen are so popular here that at many academic institutions there is an annual Hamantaschen versus latke debate. The filling for the following Hamantaschen recipe comes from the Taste of History: Recipes Old and New put out by Philadelphia's Historic Spanish and Portuguese Congregation, Kahal Kadosh Midveh Israel, founded in 1740. With the filling I used my own butter cookie dough, which everyone in my family loves. Although adults like fruit or poppy-seed fillings, my children do not, and they fill the dough with chocolate chips and even make a Hamantaschen with chocolate chips and peanut butter. I'll stick to this prune filling and leave the chocolate-chip Hamantaschen to them. Regional Variation: A similar and equally delicious Hamantaschen filling comes from Natchez, Mississippi. Naturally, it includes pecans rather than walnuts.

These get a lift from allspice, too.

There is a historical reason why most Hanukkah menus offer foods that have been fried in oil. In the second century B.C., a one-day supply of oil inexplicably burned for eight days and eight nights after Judah Maccabee and his followers recaptured Jerusalem's Holy Temple from their Syrian oppressors. Hanukkah is the celebration of that miracle, and fried foods are served to commemorate the oil. In this country, the Eastern European potato latke is usually featured. These fritters are a Sephardic contribution to that tradition.

A blintz is simply a filled crepe. If making crepes is new to you, you'll be glad to know that there is plenty of batter to try a few practice ones. The completed blintzes can be frozen for up to a month.

The secret to crisp latkes is the removal of as much liquid as possible from the ground potatoes. Serve these plain (they're a fine accompaniment to a roast with gravy), or with sour cream or applesauce. See how to dice potatoes.

This soup, actually my mother's recipe, is traditionally served at Passover, but it's so good that my family likes to make it all year round. A little chicken stock goes into the matzo balls, and the rest makes up the soup base. You can also use canned chicken broth, but for the best-tasting and most authentic soup, we think nothing beats homemade chicken stock. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

These replace the more familiar Hanukkah latkes that are prepared with grated raw potatoes. The croquettes are made with bolbess, the Jewish mashed potato stuffing for goose. But like latkes, they are fried in oil to symbolize the miracle of the oil that is the basis for Hanukkah. In the second century b.c., a one-day supply of oil burned for eight days and nights after followers of Judah Maccabee captured the Holy Temple of Jerusalem from their Syrian oppressors. Fried foods are served at Hanukkah in commemoration.

Be sure to start the brisket at least a day before you plan on serving it - although it can be made up to three days ahead.

The New Prospect Café, a health-oriented restaurant and catering company in Park Slope, Brooklyn, includes these curried sweet potato fritters on their Hanukkah menu. Add some fresh grated ginger to the pancakes for an Asian touch. Sweet potatoes need the flour to give the pancakes body.

It's customary to serve jelly doughnuts at Hanukkah, since they are are fried in oil to symbolize the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days instead of one.

Freezing the rugelach before baking helps the cookies maintain their shape. For gift giving, layer them between sheets of waxed paper and arrange in tins lined with colorful cellophane or tissue paper.

Borekas -savory pastries made of phyllo dough- are part of the culinary heritage of Israeli Jews of Turkish and Bulgarian backgrounds. Falafel is the most popular street food in Israel, but borekas run a close second. This sophisticated version of the dish makes a delicious appetizer.

This is a specialty of Hanukah. Of several fritters that I have tried, this one is the most scrumptious, because the apples are macerated in brandy, which gives them a most wonderful flavor, and the batter is very light.

Horseradish, which is found on the traditional seder plate, is used here with terrific results.

In nineteenth-century America, kichlers or Haman's Ears for Purim Night were small cookies (kichel is cookie in Yiddish), sometimes made from a pound-cake batter, deep-fried in butter, and bathed in sugar syrup flavored with cinnamon and rose water. Notice that butter was used in this age before vegetable shortening. Haman's Ears is also the American name for a kichel, kichelkies, or hazenblosen (blown-up little pants), thin strips of fried dough sprinkled with confectioners' sugar, similar to the Italian bugie served at Carnivale in February. "When I would ask my grandmother how much red wine to use in her kichelkies, she would reply, 'Half and egg shell,'" said Flora Atkin, who enjoys making traditional family recipes for holidays. "She used to say, 'I know my recipe won't die because my granddaughter will carry on the tradition.'" She was right. Before Rosh Hashanah, each year, Mrs. Atkin makes kichelkies on an assembly line with three frying pans going at once.

(Southern German and Alsatian Italian Plum Torte) This torte is served traditionally at the high holidays in early fall, when small blue Italian plums are in season. In southern Germany and Alsace the pie was made from zwetsche, a local variety of these plums. My aunt Lisl always used to make a murbeteig crust (a short-crust butter cookie dought) for this tart, and sliced each Italian plum into four crescent shapes. She lined the tart with breadcrumbs and then apricot preserves, which protected the dough during baking, leading to a crispy crust. She went light on the cinnamon, a spice she felt was overused in this country. (I agree with her.) My aunt's results, simple to prepare, were simply delicious.