What better way to start the holiday season but with a lovely latke festival? Our festival took the form of a Latke Cook-Off pitting 4 Great Performances chefs against each other to win the people’s choice award – hosted in our 4,000 sq ft professional kitchen in Hudson Square.
The simple potato pancake was a media star. The competition, featured last week on Urban Daddy, established Latke’s credibility as a gourmet attraction for 2009. Florence Fabricant listed the evening on her weekly NYTimes calendar. On the day of, WPIX arrived at 5 AM to film a series of four live segments which aired every hour; and 12 hours later, NBC featured the festivities once again.
In competition:
The Latin Latke, created by Chef Victoria Saldana, representing El Café at the newly renovated El Museo del Barrio. Chef Vickie baked her latke, incorporating pepper jack cheese, fresh cilantro and peppers into the tradition. The unique topping of Avocado Salsa, gave the latke a distinctively Latin flavor. Assisting Chef Vickie at her station was GP’s President, Dean Martinus. A weekend culinary warrior, Dean showed he can take the heat of the kitchen as well as the pressure cooker of business negotiation.
The Soul Latke, an expression of Southern flair by Chef Sherwin Holloway of Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, paid homage to the roots of jazz. A sweet potato latke was enhanced by a corn relish topping and a dollop of Katchkie Farm Tomato Jam. Standing in for Chef Sherwin, who was way-layed at home with the flu, was Chef Albert Lovelace – a sous chef in the GP production kitchen. Farmer Bob Walker was on deck to assist Chef Albert, adding his freshly harvested micro-greens to the latke.
The Luxury Latke was the creation of Chef Jack Kiggins, Executive Chef for the company at the Plaza Grand Ballroom. Who would expect anything less from the Plaza than a latke topped with crème fraiche, smoked salmon and caviar – or a variation with shaved truffles? CEO and veteran latke maker, Liz Neumark, assisted with frying while encouraging the crowd of patient latke tasters to cast their vote for Chef Jack.
The New American Latke, presented by Chef Marc Spooner – Chef de Cuisine for Great Performances Off-Premise catering division and recent winner of the Chopped Competition - replaced the potato with a blend of carrots and parsnips, eggs and flour. A topping of Clementine Compote and Basil Foam brought the ageless dish into the 21st Century of gastronomy and innovation.
The attendees spanned several generations, from mid-20’s hipsters to 90-year old grandmothers. There were latke mavens and latke novices. One thing was certain, the fried potato dish has not lost its appeal. Guests stood on line repeatedly as they tasted and re-tasted the delicious pancakes. Hot cider, mulled wine and the universally beloved mini hot dog in pastry rounded out the evening which was topped off with the Chanukah signature dessert of mini-jelly donuts and pledges to spend the following morning at the gym.
The winner – The Soul Latke! We think the last minute addition of Katchkie Farm Tomato Jam is a modern Chanukah miracle ingredient.
