In Italy, Hanukkah Means Crispy, Crunchy Fried Chicken
Tuscany’s Jewish communities celebrate the Festival of Lights with lemony pollo fritto.
Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
From Eastern Europe’s potato latkes to rustic Moroccan doughnuts called sfenj, frying foods in oil is an important part of how Jewish communities around the world celebrate Hanukkah. The oil commemorates the Hanukkah story of the Maccabees, a small Judean army that recaptured the Temple in Jerusalem from the ancient Greeks and used olive oil to rededicate the Temple’s menorah. As the story goes, the Maccabees found enough oil to light the menorah for only one night, but it miraculously lasted for eight.
Related: Pollo Fritto alla Toscana (Tuscan Fried Chicken)
But you won’t find potato latkes on the table for the Jewish Festival of Lights in Italy. Instead, in Tuscany, Hanukkah traditionally means pollo fritto per Chanukkà (Hanukkah fried chicken): chicken pieces that are marinated in lemon juice, then battered and fried in oil. Classic pollo fritto recipes tend to be quite simple and spare, consisting of little more than flour, egg, chicken, oil, and salt. But that crunchy canvas offers lots of opportunities to play around with flavor, like adding warm and smoky spices to the flour mixture and enlivening the beaten egg with lemon zest and juice.
For a more modern take on pollo fritto, I tinkered with the classic formula, opting to oven-fry the chicken rather than deep-fry it. Choosing the oven-frying route is simpler, healthier, and won’t splatter hot oil all over your countertops. And since the oven does most of the heavy lifting, you do not have to stand at the stove babysitting your chicken, making this pollo fritto as accessible for weeknights as for special holiday dinners.
Related: 23 Celebratory Hanukkah Recipes
To help achieve the mouthwatering crispness you typically get from deep-frying, I added a generous amount of cornstarch to the flour coating. The results are impressively reminiscent of the “real thing”: supremely tender and juicy chicken inside, with a crunchy, golden-brown cap. Thanks to a combination of onion powder, smoked paprika, and ground cinnamon in the flour coating, the chicken pieces also come out of the oven so flavorful they hardly need any sauce or accompaniment. But for a bit of added brightness and acidity, you can serve lemon wedges alongside to squeeze over the chicken at the table.
While pollo fritto is easy enough for a weeknight meal, it’s also a fun way to switch up your holiday main dish, pivoting away from the long-cooked flavors of brisket or short ribs, and enlivening Hanukkah dinners with bright, zesty flavors and satisfying crunch. To make a Hanukkah dinner out of it, try serving the chicken with salad of bitter greens (omit any dairy, to keep it kosher), and a side of roasted cauliflower.
You won’t even miss the latkes.
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