Scenes from Latke MasterChef at the Chabad Jewish Center

The latkes came, freshly fried right from the oil and straight into this judge’s mouth. Topped with cranberry sauce, pickled onions and more, it was hard to pick a favorite at the second-annual Latke MasterChef event, hosted on Dec. 8 by the Chabad Jewish Center.

It was my pleasure to be invited back as a judge. We tried the crispy potato pancakes first without toppings, to get a real feel for the base ingredients. But who could resist a visit to the toppings bar? There were nine of Devorah Bush’s excellent hand-made toppings, including favorites such as caramelized onion, mango salsa and honey mustard.

Before us judges announced the winner, each chef got a chance to explain to the crowd how they came up with their recipe. This year’s contestants all used strikingly similar ingredients, but each latke had its own unique flavor and texture, which is the beauty of a food that rarely follows a strict recipe. Many of the chefs said they basically wing it, starting from their family’s traditional recipe. They then fry a few “test” latkes, tasting and adjusting until the flavor and consistency is just right.

Brooke Bregman earned the trophy this year for her crispy, flavorful latke, with the assistance of Van and Nancy Solkov. Susan Deixler earned the People’s Choice award.

Along with the latkes, guests were treated to a whole array of other appetizing Jewish dishes, almost all of which were prepared by Devorah, including her gelt chocolate cake. She teasingly told me that she had not planned on making it this year, but my mention last week of the tasty cake put pressure on her to bake one up, not wanting to disappoint guests.

The Chabad Jewish Center also offers a great Chanukah Shoppe with a wide variety of fun and playful Menorahs along with everything else you could want for a Chanukah celebration. That includes a very neat Latke spatula, festive tableware and plenty of holiday games for the kids, including dreidels, of course.

Chanukah at the River

The Chabad Jewish Center festivities continue on the evening of Sunday, Dec. 22, at Water Street and the Balshaw Bridge. The fifth-annual Grand Menorah Lighting will include the lighting of the first candle to celebrate Chanukah, along with plenty of other activities, food, music and raffles for young and old alike.

As the good Rabbi Dovid Bush said, “the festival of Chanukah teaches us about the power of light over darkness and right over might.”

The first candle on the mega 9-foot tall menorah will be lit as soon as the sun sets at 4:54 p.m. It will be followed by a gelt drop, fire juggling act, Chanukah crafts, music, raffles, face painting, photo-ops with a life-sized dreidel and a special Chanukah giveaway for the first 50 kids. In terms of food, expect latkes, donuts and chocolate “gelt” (those tasty edible coins). Kids will also have a chance to try a set of virtual reality goggles and search for the last jug of oil among the ruins of the liberated Temple in Jerusalem during the Maccabean Revolt in homage to the sacred holiday.

For more information, visit jewishpetaluma.com.