PrintHow Much Should a Hamantaschen Weigh?
As I was passing a neighbor yesterday morning on my way to work, she shouted out, "Happy Purim, Ed." And so I say to all of you, Happy Purim. I have no idea what Purim is all about, except that I think that someone named Esther triumphed over a dude named Haman. All I really know about Purim is that you get to eat hamantaschen, sweet triangular cookielike pastries filled in their exposed center with poppyseeds or prune or raspberry jam.
I associate hamantaschen with an anvil-like heaviness and a desert-like dryness. You could break a toe or two with the hamantaschen I grew up with, and those six-ounce heavyweights are what you are most likely to find anywhere hamantaschen are sold. They look like the one above, bought at Fairway Market today. They're tasty enough, but you feel like you get its dense essence two bites in.
Fairway also sells prepackaged Reisman's hamantaschen from a bakery deep in the heart of Brooklyn. These smaller specimens are pretty awful, really. The filling is too sweet and cheap-tasting; the less said about it the better.
Which leaves us with the one store-bought hamantashen that Esther, were she alive today, would be kvelling about, made by Emily Isaac at Trois Pommes Patisserie (doesn't sound very Jewish, does it?).
Issac's hamantaschen are made with a light, buttery pastry dough. The two fillings I tried, rhubarb and poppyseed, tasted like they were made from scratch (rather than coming from a jar).
Isaac's hamantaschen restore this Purim pastry's good name and reputation in this very reformed Jew's eyes. You only have until this evening to get one of Issac's hamantaschen, because the holiday is over at sundown tonight.
If you feel like making your own hamantaschen, we posted Arthtur Schwartz's recipe from his new book. And if you want to learn how to make the Trois Pommes hamantaschen, here's a video from Grub Street.
Happy Purim from everyone at Serious Eats.
Trois Pommes Patisserie
Address: 260 Fifth Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215 (map)
Phone: 718-230-3119
Website: troispommespatisserie.com
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13 Comments:
In Cooking Jewish Judy Bart Koncigor also suggests, "... how about aloha-taschen with macadamia nuts, dates, and pineapple jam and juice? Or for Aunt Estelle's personal preference: Add 1/2 cup chopped chocolate or in addition to the nuts. For an adult version, substitute 1 tablespoon liquer for 1 tablespoon of the orange juice." She goes on to discuss using jams or commercial fillings as well. The traditional recipe in the book includes a raisin nut filling. And the traditional recipe is followed by her own version specifically filled with what seems a good deal of chocolate.
LunaPierCook at 11:22AM on 03/22/08
I'm so happy to see hamentashen here. I was afraid no one would mention them. Other than winning a gold fish in a plastic bag at the Purim Carnival, Hamantashen make my Purim. I make the kind with the crunchy cookie outside, rather than the soft yeast dough kind. And I'm never not disappointed by the ones from bakeries that should know better and produce those sawdust dry ones mentioned by Ed. I fill mine with pureed dried apricots, raisin and walnuts (the same stuff I roll up in ruggalach), and strawberry jam (which always turn out messy). The best ones, however, are the chocolate ones I make with Nutella. Those really crank my grogger.
challah at 1:29PM on 03/22/08
i worked for years in midwood and borough park in the orthodox neighborhoods, and my clients were mostly chasidic. there is a lovely tradition of exchanging edible treats on purim, and they always brought me homemade hamantaschen. believe me, they were wonderful.
cybercita at 2:56PM on 03/22/08
I learned this bible story from someone's Bubbie. She told us as we were all making sweets how the wife of the king tricked a man. Not any ehtnic origin of man, just a man. She said that Ester was a smart woman and knew how to use her feminine assets to get what she needed done. Bubbie Zelda told us that if we were smart and knew how to use our brain we could control any man. Even a king. Today I call my husband the King often. Draw your own conclusions. I like to make hamentashen in raspberry and apricot. They are great with tea. I wish Bubbie was still around.
JerzeeTomato at 5:10PM on 03/22/08
Isn't hamantaschen the plural?
Those things from Trois Pommes look like very nice elephant ears folded around jam. Innovative and no doubt yummy, but not really playing the same sport, nu?
hatless at 8:27PM on 03/22/08
I dig Zaro's version of Hammentaschen, they have both lil' and large, and aren't too sweet. They also use good jam, but have been skimping on it the last couple of years. My favorite is the raspberry.. (I know, I know..)
dbdtron at 11:15PM on 03/22/08
ed, do yourself a favor and try the cinnamon apricot hamentaschen at garden of eden. the ones we bought at their brooklyn heights store were the best i've ever had. light, airy, delicious.
jmarden at 10:19AM on 03/23/08
Issac's hamantaschen are made with a light, buttery pastry dough.
i think that's the trick to moist yummy hamentashen that have just the tiniest bit of crunch: buttery pastry dough. hamentashen usually bake longer than a traditional cookie, and all the butter in the dough helps keep it moist, instead of drying out and getting heavy like cookie dough can.
and if the filling looks at all florescent? don't eat it!
redhead at 4:32PM on 03/23/08
You're right, hatless; the singular is hamantasch.
floretbroc at 10:20PM on 03/23/08
You're right, hatless; the singular is hamantasch.
floretbroc at 10:30PM on 03/23/08
Years ago my mom used to make the soft pastry-dough version. All I see these days are the sugar-cookie variety. (I guess the former aren't mass produced for freshness reasons??). But alas, just like bagels the poor hamantasch has been "improved upon" so much that they have veered from the traditional.
RichardCrystal at 10:22AM on 03/24/08
The mini poppy hamantaschen at Moishe's Bake Shop (the one on 2nd ave bet. 6th and 7th) are really great. Very traditional approach, but done well.
jas126 at 1:42PM on 03/24/08
I happen to like the yeast hamentashen filled with leqvar (prune butter). The ones at Ostrovitzky's Bakery on Ave J in Midwood are great!
SavtaShayna at 5:00PM on 03/26/08