Bay Cooking: Bringing Festive Flavors to Winter Holidays of Light

By Mary Barbera

A Sweet Year, by Joan Nathan. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2024.

A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook, by Jessica Harris. Scribner, New York, 2024.

Celebrate Diwali, by Renu Bhardwaj. Andrews McMeel Publishing, Kansas City, Missouri, 2025.

Many of us raised children with the laughter and songs of Sesame Street in the background of our daily lives. In the winter I still find myself humming Keep Christmas with You All Through the Year. The song includes these lines:

“The spirit of giving
Peace and joy to you
The goodness of loving
The gladness of living.“

These sentiments apply to the celebrations of many cultures. This year I found three recent books that include recipes and activities to celebrate winter holidays of light. All three authors target their books toward cooking and activities with children; however, any gathering of family and friends will enjoy them. Similar to many cultures having a form of dumplings, these books include holiday recipes for potato pancakes. 

In A Sweet Year, Joan Nathan, author of many cookbooks, offers recipes to celebrate nine Jewish holidays representing food of the Jewish Diaspora. Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem when enough oil for one day burned for eight days. Nathan includes recipes for both potato and apple latkes traditional in Hanukkah celebrations around the world. 

Hindus light diyas (oil lamps) and candles during Diwali to welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, prosperity and good fortune. In Celebrate Diwali, Renu Bhardwaj offers traditional recipes and crafts to celebrate the holiday which occurs over five days determined by the moon, usually in our late fall or early winter. Patatu Vada, Spicy Potato Balls are the Indian parallel to latkes and fritters.

Renowned historian, teacher and chef Jessica Harris’s A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook describes the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa and includes biographies of inspirational people who embody these principles. Her recipes from the African diaspora are delicious all year and during Kwanzaa celebrations especially South African sweet potato fritters. 

Although Hanukkah, Diwali and Kwanzaa holidays have passed for this year, let’s keep the spirit of family, culture and community with us throughout the coming year.

Recipe for South African Sweet Potato Fritters – Adapted from Jessica Harris
(Serves 6 to 8)

• Peanut oil, for frying

• 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled

• ½ cup all-purpose flour

• 1 large egg, beaten

• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy saucepan or deep fryer to 375 degrees.
Grate sweet potatoes into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand 15 minutes, then drain.
Slowly add the remaining ingredients to the potatoes until well mixed. The resulting batter should be a thick paste that holds its shape on a tablespoon. Add water to thin or flour to thicken the batter as needed.

Drop batter by tablespoonful into the oil. Do not crowd the pan. Cook until the fritters float to the top (3 to 5 minutes); flip until light brown. Drain the fritters on paper towels and serve hot.

Harris suggests serving the fritters with hot sauce as an appetizer or dusted with sugar as a dessert.