Methinks you want to cook pumpkin pancakes. Go for it!

Well, it IS Sept. 1, when everything turns to ponkins ....

Rho, I was actually planning proper latkes and freezing them for Chanuka. It's my big fry thing, but they reheat so well that not making ahead is avoidable crazymaking. My mother's background was borekes (and sufganiot), so I learned from recipes. I usually make Andrew Zimmern's Killer Potato Latkes (mashed yukon gold mixed with shredded baking potatoes, and SO good), my own version of Ina's zucchini latkes, and Sheryl Julian's sweet potato and red onion latkes, again, my way. So I've been making them long enough to start inventing my own, and I thought pumpkin could be very good. Just not sure of a flavor direction.

Why is it every time I scroll past this comment, I read ”pumpkin lattes.” I’m not a fan of pumpkin anything, so I won’t comment further.

LOL! I love pumpkin, but real pumpkin, not artificial pumpkin flavor or that cloying ”pumpkin spice” unless it's homemade in a pie.. I respect your distaste, however, and excuse you from the latkes. :)

Not sure but could you do pumpkin-potato? Definitely some onion, and it would be sage for me. Not a big fan of tarragon, unless it’s a hint.

I do like Ina’s zucchini version.

LOL!! I first read 'lattes' as well and most sweetish type pumpkin spice things are a bit of a turn off for me also. Too much! I ran across pumpkin spice Milanos at grocery yesterday. 😒 But savory pumpkin dishes sound great!!

I had a work friend years ago that would make latkes. She was raised Jewish but was pretty lax in her practice. The latkes were served with crisp bacon - also used bacon grease to fry the latkes - and sour cream and applesauce. They were SO good!!

Pretty sure latkes with bacon aren't latkes - rather, they're potato pancakes 😀

No help with making pumpkin latkes, but IMPE, any veggie pancake is pretty good.

When I grew winter squash, I'd make fritters - a.k.a. pancakes - with the chopped male blossoms, green onions, cumin or dill seed, eggs, cornmeal and wheat flour - S&P of course.

Cumin. Huh. Cumin. Pumpkin with cumin. That would never occur to me, but Pumpkin, fresh sage, and cumin. And Peppers? I have a lot of peppers. Charred peppers? Yes, I think so. Chiffonade of the big sage leaves, not the little ones whole. Oh, man...now I'm hungry! Carol, thank-you. That's brilliant. And would work with sour cream.

Yeah, Gardengal, I don't keep kosher, but bacon is beyond the pale for ”Jewish food”. Plus, I try to keep naturally vegan things vegan for all the different diets. My first thought for the pumpkin was to fry in butter (more practicall, oil and butter) because warm pumpkin is so good with butter, but nixed that for the veganness.

There's a lot of recipes out there for latkes - or potato pancakes if you prefer - that include bacon. I have a feeling these little fried goodies are consumed by a lot more folks than just of the Jewish persuasion........

I'm sure you're right, and I'm not saying that your friend isn't the only Jew to mash up the joys of bacon with latkes, but the word is Yiddish for pancake derived from Northern Europe, which originated with Greek for oil, so I assume the Slavic words meant fried pancake. It's definitely a Jewish word, no matter who's using it. Fried in oil for a ”dairy” meal (which inclues fish and eggs, which are neither meat nor milk), and served, traditionally, with sour cream. Fried in animal fat for a meat meal, and served with apple sauce. I make pear sauce, or appricot sauce (or cranberry!), and have served with creme fraiche or mascarpone.

Latkes are fried, but they can be made out of just about anything. Potatoes aren't required, and I'm pretty sure there were latkes before there were potatoes in Europe.

Beesneeds, you had me up to Brussels. :D I cannot bear the smell of those, nor even get them into my mouth. I guess if I imagine well, they do go with pumpkin, but no. Never. Kale, though. Fried kale is good... Do you think the nuts would scorch, though? Maybe with mashed instead of shreded pumpkin for those? All great ideas! Thank-you!

I have had summer squash latkes with either the yellow kind or zucchini. I've had them done with sweet potatoes. So why not pumpkin if you like. I would hate to peel it. Winter squashes have less starch and more water than potatoes although they are still very starchy. I would think they would not be quite as good based on my making both potato and butternut squash gratins. I've also had squash kugels, they are good but dealing with all the water is the tricky part. Pre salting and squeezing out the water would probably be a good idea with the pumpkins for the latkes. I know drying out the canned pumpkin by spreading it out on a paper towel before using is the secret to a good pumpkin cheesecake.

One great thing about pie pimpkins is that they aren't all that wet, unlike a juicy jack-o’-lantern pumpkin. Thanks for the reminder to watch for wet, especially since I've never grated one before. They're also pretty easy to peel. Cutting in half first helps. ;)

Potatoes aren't necessarily "wet" either, but some folks still salt them and then squeeze out the water to make latkes. Some even save the potato starch to use. Not me. YMMV.

The potatoes I get are pretty darned wet! I do set the to weep and squeeze for potato latkes. I will do the same if the pumpkin grates up wet.