Last night many Jewish homes in Hong Kong were filled with the enticing aroma of gently frying potatoes and onions. And they will be tonight and for the next six nights - along with the delicious scent of deep-fried doughnuts, perhaps filled with a hot berry jam.
Food fried in oil lies at the heart of the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah or Chanukah - an eight-day festival which this year began on yesterday. The story goes that when the Maccabees rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem after driving the Syrians (then part of the Greek empire) out of Israel, only one flask of oil was left. This would ordinarily have been enough to keep the Temple candle lit for one day, but miraculously it lasted eight.
So over the Hanukkah period, Jewish people keep a hanukkiyah or menorah - a nine-branch candelabra - in their homes, lighting one extra candle each evening with the ninth permanently lit one. They also celebrate by making and eating oil-based food such as latkes (potato pancakes) and doughnuts to mark the miracle of that one flask of oil.
'Hanukkah is a very pleasant, warming celebration,' says Sharon Ser, a partner at Withers law firm in Hong Kong. 'As you light the candles every night, you make a blessing, then you eat. If you're not eating, then you're not Jewish.'
And it seems there is something special about latkes. The fried potato patty appears to tantalise the taste buds like no other food.
'Latkes are a fabulous dish. They are the most delicious meal in the world,' says Ser, a former president of the United Jewish Congregation (UJC) in Hong Kong.
