{"id":7707,"date":"2022-03-13T13:25:05","date_gmt":"2022-03-13T13:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/13\/hamantaschen-a-cookie-bursting-with-history\/"},"modified":"2022-03-13T13:25:05","modified_gmt":"2022-03-13T13:25:05","slug":"hamantaschen-a-cookie-bursting-with-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/13\/hamantaschen-a-cookie-bursting-with-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamantaschen, a cookie bursting with history"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This week at Breads Bakery in New York City, one cookie is bound to sell more than the rest. “Hamantaschen is the most perfect cookie,” said owner Gadi Peleg. “The most requested article we can keep doing all year long is hamantaschen.”<\/p>\n

Hamantaschen, a triangular-shaped cookie, is served during the Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

In the days leading up to Purim, Peleg expects to sell up to 10,000 cookies a day, with a variety of fillings: chocolate (“like a kind of brownie inside the cookie”), poppy seeds or jam. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the perfect cookie because it contains what I call the golden proportion of the cookie,\u201d Peleg said. “There’s exactly a one-to-one crust filling ratio.”<\/p>\n

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The triangular hamantaschen cookie, served during the Jewish holiday of Purim, celebrates the spirit of resilience and the defeat of a famous villain.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Stephanie Butnick, deputy editor of Tablet Magazine and presenter of the podcast “Unorthodox,” explained how this cookie intersects with Purim’s story: “Purim’s story is actually one of the most dramatic stories in the Bible. the only story in the Hebrew Bible that does not mention God. It is a purely human drama. And it is extremely dramatic. “<\/p>\n

The story of Purim begins in ancient Persia, with a king, a queen, and an evil one, the king’s advisor, Haman. “Haman hates Jews,” Butnick told correspondent Faith Salie. “What she doesn’t know is that Queen Esther is secretly Jewish. So when she basically prepares this plot to kill all the Jews of ancient Persia, Esther decides that if she wants to save the Jews, she has to do it in itself essentially as a Jew. “<\/p>\n

So Esther confronts the king and finally convinces him to stop Haman’s plot. “The Jews are saved, Haman is murdered, and this is the holiday we celebrate today,” Butnick said. <\/p>\n

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The pastry, however, was not cooked on holiday until the 16th century, when it was inspired by the German cookie mohntaschen (mohn<\/em> meaning poppy seed and tash<\/em> i.e. pockets).<\/p>\n

Butnick said, “Haman is the bad guy in Purim’s story. And so the Jews said, ‘Wait, what if we call this cookie hamantaschen?’ And can we eat it in Purim? “And now we have these hamantaschen which are technically Haman’s pockets. But people say they are Haman’s ears, people say they are Haman’s hat. So we’ve made this cookie what we want it to be. “<\/p>\n

And as the meaning of the triangle has evolved, so has the hamantaschen. At Breads Bakery, chef Edan Leshnick has cooked new flavors: hamantaschen pizza, anyone? – and classics like the poppy. <\/p>\n

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The process of making hamantaschen is relatively simple, and the importance of the triangle even a little silly. But when put into context, Butnick said it is a recipe for what Jewish celebrations are all about:<\/p>\n

“For me, it is this Jewish spirit of resilience and celebration that we eat a cookie named after one of the leading villains in Jewish history,” he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s like taking a bite out of the survival of the Jewish people,\u201d Salie said.<\/p>\n

“Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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RECIPE: Breads Bakery Apple Hamantaschen<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n


For more information:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  • Breads Bakery, New York<\/li>\n
  • stephaniebutnick.com<\/li>\n
  • Podcast “Unorthodox” (Tablet Magazine)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n


    Story produced by Sara Kugel. Editor: Remington Korper.<\/em><\/p>\n

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