Sniff… sniff… snniifff.
“Not enough onions. (sniff sniff). What else is that smell?”
Hutch sighed at the curly head imposed between him and his work. He elbowed Starsky out of the way, “As for your last question, don’t feed me straight lines while I’m cooking. As for the onion, that’s plenty. Traditional raggmunk doesn’t even have onion.”
“Raggwha? Latkes – they’re called latkes.”
“Maja, she was my grandfather’s housekeeper, made raggmunk. She put a little onion in hers and I’m using her recipe.”
Starsky fired up his no-fail puppy eyes and turned it on his partner, “Huuutch, it’s Hanukkah, a glorious celebration of the Jewish faith and the belief in miracles, a time of family and traditions. Traditions like lighting the candles, playing dreidel and eating latkes.”
“Okay, okay. You want traditional Jewish, you got it.” Hutch held up both hands in surrender, “Guess I’ll give the bacon to the Dobeys. I made some applesauce, but if you want sour cream -”
Starsky’s eyes and taste buds lit up. “Bacon? You make raggymops with bacon?”
“Raggmunk. Yeah, Maja used salt pork, along with her ligonberry jam, but it’s easier to find thick cut bacon. Karen sent me some jam she made from Maja’s recipe and I guess it got me a little nostalgic.” He removed a foil cover from a platter, revealing a mouth watering heap of perfectly cooked bacon, “But since this is treif – too bad” he sighed, “and I was going to fry them in butter and the bacon drippings, nice and brown crispy, just like Maja did.”
“Wait, is this a joke? You? Cooking in butter and bacon grease and eating fried foods?” the brunette’s eyes narrowed in suspicion and he made a show of looking around. “Okay, where’s the hidden camera and Alan Funt? Or should I check your greenhouse for a spacepeople pod?”
“No tricks or space aliens.” Hutch began stirring the potato-onion shreds into the batter “Like I said, just a little nostalgia. So enjoy it before I come to my senses and feed you tofu and wheat germ pancakes.”
Starsky gave a mock shudder, “Don’t make sick jokes like that, not while you’re cooking our new tradition of latke-raggmumps!”
“Raggmunk.” Hutch pronounced slowly, then noticed what was going on behind his back, “Starsky!” But it was too late, the pilfered slice of bacon was gone.
The unrepentant thief swallowed, then grinned. “You know, I like this idea. Old family traditions brought together. A little Jewish, a little Swedish/Norwegish, an all-American frying pan!”
“It’s all-American melting pot.” Hutch automatically corrected.
Starsky pointed to the large skillet on the front burner, “Looks like a frying pan to me.”
Rather than strangle the smirking imp, Hutch made shooing motions. “Outta my kitchen!”
Starsky swiped another slice of bacon and headed towards the couch. Hutch started ladling batter into the hot pan, the smell of crisping potatoes bringing back pleasant memories. Maja had sung to them as she cooked, mostly tunes from the radio or hymns. Searching for something appropriate, he started singing the first thing that popped into his head:
R!
I say R-A
R-A-G
R-A-G-G
Rag
R-a-g-g M-U-N-K
Ragg – Munk!
Doo-doo-doo-dah-dee-ah-dah
Ragg – Munk!
delightful sacrilege – but I still prefer my latkes the way my grandmother made them!
Thank you. I have found that like southern fried chicken or matzo ball soup, there are 6 million ‘only’ ways to make latkes. For me, it’s hubby’s recipe, along with his homemade applesauce and cranberry sauce.
I simply LOVE this, Matsir! Every word rings true and the entire story makes my mouth water. The silly song at the end is perfect. What a lovely gift to wake up to on this dreary morning. Thank you!
You are welcome. I’m glad I could brighten up a winter morning for you.
Oh, Matsir, your writing is always so full of fun! And now I finally know what latkes are – they’re like raggmunk (well, they’re “perunalettu” to me, adding some Finnish to Starsky’s “Swedish-Norwegish” :D). Thank you for cooking up this winter delight a la Starsky and Hutch!
Thanks for the nice words, Mortmere. I remember hubby’s first attempt to explain latkes to me. Hubby: (six minute history lesson ending with) shredded potatoes, onion and stuff fried crispy. Me: So… it’s a hash brown?
Latkes/raggmunk/perunalettu/potato pancake/hash brown – you can’t go wrong with fried potatoes, friendship and family!
A sweet treat that was perfectly delightful! I love learning about traditions, particularly on the topic of food. Thank you for this fun time with S&H and with some delicious sounding nostalgic food.
I’m happy that you enjoyed it. I first saw raggmunks at a ScanFest. I had to find out why the line for that booth was 3 times longer than all the others. (Fortunately, they had some only cooked in butter.) Delicious, but Holy carb coma, Batman!
I forgot to mention that I loved the clever title. Potatoes indeed.
Great story! Traditions we start with loved ones are the best. Thanks for the present!!
Thanks, Jen. I’ll have to admit, I had a couple of lines in here where they mention missing family, but took them out so our guys are content to be together. To me that’s one of the S & H foundations, slash or gen.
Matsir, this was DELICIOUS!! A great blend of their traditions! SIGH, and now I am hungry! LOL
GREAT pic by Flamingo and elves!
Thank you, Nancy. I’ve enjoyed so many stories from all of you through the year, I’m glad I could return the favor.
How cute! Now I’m hungry. 🙂 Thanks!
You are welcome.
Hmm, maybe I should have added a warning?
Warning! Diet buster, read at your waistline’s risk!
Nah, I love leading people into temptation 😉
Very cute!
Thanks!
Yum, I can almost taste the “latke-raggmumps” now!
Try ’em with cranberry sauce. Damn, I should have come up with a Starsky-ish food combo for the story. Peanut butter? Sugar-roasted chili peppers?
Hee, this was fun! Love the banter – it’s so very them!
Thank you. I’ll admit, I kept having to backspace over slashy tangents, so I’m glad they read true to character for you.
This was so cute! Loved it!
Thank you. It was fun to write, even if I had to suppress my slash side.
Oh! I am so hungry for latkes now. I grew up on triangle shaped ones with a little onion added. I haven’t had one for years now. Or a knish (fried potato cake) slathered in brown mustard. I didn’t know about raggmunks. Wonderful story about food traditions. made my mouth water!
You are welcome.
You’ve got my curiosity peaked. How did they turned out triangle shaped? I’ve not seen that. One of hubby’s relative makes theirs long and skinny for dipping, but everyone else just makes roundish discs.
I enjoyed the mixing of ethnic traditions, Matsir. What fun! I went online and found swedishfood.com to look up an authentic recipe. I already knew how to make latkes. The Swedish way of serving them with ligonberries sounds delicious. I love lingonberry jam! I will try this on Christmas Day.
Hugs!
Ursula
Thank you, Ursula. I’m happy I could inspire you. I’m glad you don’t believe in being too old/closed minded to try something new, life’s too beautiful not to! Enjoy!
Loved the lines, “Okay, where’s the hidden camera and Alan Funt? Or should I check your greenhouse for a spacepeople pod?” LOL
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you. I’m happy I could make you laugh. (and if you caught Hutch cooking in butter and bacon fat what else could you think?)
You have given me both raggmunk cravings and an earworm at the same time–I am impressed! And hungry… 😉 Great job, Matsir!
Thank you. Sorry about the earworm, but I bet it made a nice change from Christmas muzak.
Lovely work; pretty sure I can smell Hutch’s ?
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
That sounds delicious! Loved Hutch indulging in some comfort food that he knew Starsky would love, too.
What a fun read. And now I’m really hungry! The song at the end was a perfect finis.