There was a time when I felt certain that I could cook pretty much anything. But that was before I learned how to cook.
Once I went to culinary school, I gained so many insights into the often odd and disappointing results I’d gotten over the years as I insisted on telling myself that there was nothing wrong with making almost everything up as I went along in the kitchen.
Sure, I had successes here and there. But I tried not to think of all the times I wasn’t so lucky. One disaster I will never forget is the horribly embarrassing, oil-logged, barely edible platter of latkes I served to guests at a dinner party in college once. (In an especially unfortunate flourish, I had decided to go with purple potatoes, which, after being fried, turned the most unappetizing shade of gray.) Absorbed in planning my menu, I got the idea to cook my own latkes for the first time in my life, while briefly, and only vaguely, paying attention to some woman on TV as she expertly—and, it seemed, quite effortlessly—whipped up a batch. “Why would I even need to consult a recipe after that?” I remember thinking. So I didn’t, of course. And the lesson I learned, not just about latkes, but also my entire approach to cooking back then, is still with me to this day,
The good news is that I now think about latkes like a culinary student and teacher would. I appreciate how easy they are to ruin without a little know-how and understanding of technique. But at the same time, I also understand how easy they are to make if you possess a little basic know-how. That’s why this week, I get to show you how I finally got it right—and offer an easy-to-follow recipe that will have you and the young cooks in your life making the sort of swoonily golden and crunchy latkes you’d be proud to serve to anyone.
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