Latke closeup
Potato pancakes, known as latkes in Yiddish, are traditionally associated with Hanukkah, (especially among Ashkenazi families) in particular because there is a custom to eat foods fried or baked in oil, preferably olive oil, as the original miracle of the Hanukkah menorah involved the discovery of the small flask of oil used by the Jewish High Priest (the Kohen Gadol).
Many Sephardic families as well as Polish Ashkenazim and Israelis have the custom to eat all kinds of doughnuts (bimuelos or sufganiyot) which are deep-fried in oil.