Purim 2018 NYC Bakery Hamantaschen Roundup
February 24, 2018
Welcome to my extremely unscientific and incomplete ramble through New York City’s vast and varied hamantaschen offerings. I hit up a few spots in Manhattan, because I live here, and a few more in Brooklyn (Midwood only this year—I had grand ambitions of venturing further afield, but Brooklyn is far and getting around it is hard). If you think I missed out on someplace important, please let me know in the comments!
Two Purim Breads: Keylitsh and Boyoja Ungola di Purim
February 19, 2018
As a certified carb addict, I’ll never say no to an opportunity to bake some bread. Bread is probably not the first food you think of in association with Purim (or the second, or third), but it turns out there are a wealth of Purim bread-baking traditions in Jewish cultures worldwide.
A Purim Classic: Sugar Cookie Hamantaschen
February 12, 2018
For years, I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect hamantaschen recipe. I like my hamantaschen to have the texture of one of those slightly soft, slightly crumbly frosted grocery store sugar cookies I remember eating as a kid, and while I’ve occasionally found bakeries whose hamantaschen matches my vision of the perfect sugar cookie hamantaschen, no recipe I’ve baked at home has ever measured up. Until now, that is.
A Nourishing Purim Breakfast: Poppy and Prune Oatmeal
February 5, 2018
What do you eat for breakfast on Purim? Do you dig into the hamantaschen early? Or do you go for something super healthy to balance out all the sugar that you’ll likely consume later in the day? Today I have a recipe that offers the perfect balance: a delicious, nourishing Purim breakfast oatmeal, inspired by two classic hamantaschen fillings that also happen to be the namesakes of this blog: poppy and prune.
The OG Hamantaschen: Yeast Dough Poppy Seed Triangles
January 29, 2018
I’m back this week with another Purim recipe. But this one isn’t quite as unusual as last week’s artichoke soup. Rather, it’s a classic with a twist—hamantaschen, but (probably) not as you know it: yeast dough hamantaschen!
Something Different for Purim: Queen Esther’s Artichoke Soup
January 22, 2018
I know, I know—it’s more than a month until Purim. But it’s never too early to start planning! Besides, I have a trove of off-the-beaten-track Purim recipes I want to share with you, and there’s no time like the present to get started. Named after Queen Esther, this unusual Italian Jewish artichoke soup takes advantage of the season’s bounty—the Italian artichoke season peaks around late February, just in time for Purim—while also giving a nod to Queen Esther’s legendary vegetarian diet while living in King Achashverosh’s palace.
Schmaltz: Jewish Food Past, Present, and Futures
January 16, 2018
Last Tuesday, I was lucky enough to attend a fantastic Jewish food history event at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. “Schmaltz: Jewish Food Past, Present, and Futures” featured Michael Wex, best-selling author of Born to Kvetch and frequent Poppy and Prune resource Rhapsody in Schmaltz, and Liz Alpern and Jeffrey Yoskowitz, co-founders of the Gefilteria and authors of the awesome cookbook The Gefilte Manifesto: New Recipes for Old World Jewish Foods.
Fritada de Espinaca
January 8, 2018
The first time I met my friend R., we got to talking about our shared love of Passover cooking. When I asked him what his favorite dishes were, he said I probably wouldn’t know then because they were Turkish. “Oh yeah?” I said. “Try me.”
Moroccan Pumpkin Soup
January 2, 2018
Pumpkin seems like the most all-American of vegetables. There’s jack-o’lanterns at Halloween, pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, and, these days, pumpkin spice lattes all fall long. But long before the advent of the Thanksgivukkah pumpkin donut, Sephardim and Italian Jews incorporated this festive gourd into their autumnal holiday meals. At Sukkot, Bukharians eat stuffed pumpkins while Syrians favor pumpkin pancakes, and Italian celebrate Hanukkah with pumpkin fritters. And Rosh Hashanah, the biggest pumpkin holiday of them all, boasts pumpkin dumplings, pumpkin jam, candied pumpkin, and Moroccan pumpkin soup.
World Shabbat Breads: Berches, the First Braided Challah
December 26, 2017
Berches, a German Shabbat bread, is both like and unlike the challah we know and love in America today. Like challah, it’s braided. Unlike most contemporary American challah, it’s made with an eggless dough—and, in place of egg, often contains mashed potato for a softer texture. The resulting loaf is pleasingly light and chewy, with a crispy crust and a more savory flavor profile than a common challah.