Newsmaker

Every Friday, we choose an alum who has been making headlines—for better or for worse.
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Micah Fredman ’10: Thanks a latke.

Micah Fredman ’10 became obsessed with reinventing latkes during his junior year at Yale. That’s when he teamed with  Rabbi Jim Ponet ’68 to play on the Hanukkah theme of light and darkness, imbuing the season’s traditional potato pancakes with such nontraditional latke ingredients as golden (light) and red (dark) beets.

This year, Fredman put on more of a Mexican-Caribbean vibe—with blazing results.

First, Fredman’s recipe for yucca and sweet potato latkes with apple plantain sorbet, queso fresco, pickled onion, cilantro, and spicy green hot sauce won him a spot as an “amateur” contestant in Edible Brooklyn magazine’s annual Latke Festival on December 10. Then, Fredman (who is not exactly an amateur; he works as a line cook at Manhattan’s Gramercy Tavern) went up against fancy chefs from fancy restaurants in the contest at the Brooklyn Academy of Music—and walked away with the audience favorite award.

“I’ve been kind of obsessed with tacos for a long time, so the flavors are very appealing to me,” he told Bon Appetit. “For me, the potato easily transitions into sweet potato. The applesauce is a traditional garnish so I thought it might be fun to do an ice cream or sorbet. So the apple and plantain brings it more to the Caribbean, while the other garnishes are more Mexican.”

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