Molly Goldberg was a gossipy Jewish-American housewife in the Bronx who liked to chat across her kitchen window with her neighbors in the show “ e Goldbergs,” which started on radio in 1929 and in 1949 moved to television and ran until 1954. Molly was played by actress Gertrude Berg. In 1955, Berg wrote and published e Molly Goldberg Jewish Cookbook. My grandmother and mother adored this book, which is lled with traditional Ashkenazic Jewish recipes— everything om blintzes and ge lte sh to matzo brei and borscht. My mom still has it. ey made their latkes omit, although my Nana added the eggbread (also known as Challah) to the recipe. We still make it this way.
Ingredients
- 5 russet potatoes, grated
- 1 onion, grated
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3 tablespoons matzo meal
- 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 slices eggbread, so ened with water and then squeezed of the moisture
- Vegetable or peanut oil (or shortening)
- Salt and pepper
Preparation
Put grated potato and onion in strainer over a large bowl. Knead it to get moisture out, then let sit in bowl to draw out potato starch. Dump water
but keep starch at bottom of bowl. Put potatoes and onion mixture in a tea towel or cheesecloth and wring to get out moisture. Add to bowl with other ingredients. Mix well, including starch.
Fry in cast-iron pans in small amounts of oil. Drain on paper towels and keep warm on baking sheets in a 200o oven.
