Haman's Ears!

The PurimFest has come and gone. I made some delissio hamentashen, recipe courtesy of Intrepid Reader Julz [aside: the delissio commercial is a canadian ripoff of the digiorno commercial. that's why they are watching hockey, and are so damn polite]. Hamentashen are an interesting bunch. The meaning of the yiddish word was fodder for much speculation over Purim 2010, and based on my research, it either means "poppy bag," or "Hamen's Ears." My mother is inclined to say poppy bag, but in Israel, they are referred to as Oznei Haman, literally Hamen's Ears, and since the word Haman is in the name Hamentachen, I will assume the tachen means ears. As kids, we were taught it was his hat: 3 cornered, like the pilgrims!

Haman, of course, is the villain of Purim, the vizier of a Persian (babylonian?) king who set out to destroy the Jews because he was publicly dissed by the incredulous Mordechai, who then sent his adoptive niece Esther to woo the king with her sexual and emotional beauty, thereby culling political favor for "the jews" in general, and Mordechai in specific. Mordechai then functioned as a puppet-master of sorts, working behind the scenes, using intel gathered from Esther (now the King's main mistress), to orchestrate a reversal of the King's order to kill the Jews (thank you, Haman) to an edict to actually kill Haman. Of course, the winner's write the history books, and while this paints the Jews as a pitiful victim who through some miracle managed to escape utter death, I suspect otherwise. It seems to me that what occurred in purim was a sort of political upheaval by Mordechai, who having married his daughter into power, was now able to kill Haman and all of his supporters, many of whom resided in Shushan. This is bloody business, and dirty business, and rather than the much more homiletic reasons given by the sages for the absence of any mention of God in this book (the hidden hand of God in all matters, etc), I suspect that such dirty business does not merit the invocation of God's name: sex, power, killing. My sagely wife noted that after 26 years of celebrating purim, only now did she recognize that the King actually suspected Haman of trying to sleep with his wife, while prostrated on her bed begging her forgiveness once he realized that she was a Jewess. Many have used Purim as an example of how the Goyim interact with the Jews in exile, a repetitive pattern of subservient serfdom, with leaders now-and-then intervening (IY"H, of course!) to save us from imminent peril. I take a different tack with this story: this is the story of Jewish self-determination, the willingness to sink to whatever level to obtain power. After all, marrying off a family member to secure power is nothing new, but only with the ghettoization of the Jews over the subsequent 1000 years did the idea of intermingling of the races/religions become so taboo. Ah, but that is for another time. 

That is my purim-synopsis. Now that you've suffered through that, here is the recipe for the delicious hamentachen, reproduced without Julz's permission, with pictorial documentation. I filled them with apricot, strawberry, or melted chocolate. Mmmmmmm!!!!

Hamen Ears (yield about 3-4 dozen)

1/2 C margarine
1 C sugar
1 large egg
1/3 C orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 C all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
Cinnamon-sugar

1. Beat margarine at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well.  Add egg, orange juice, and vanilla.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to margarine mixture; stir into a uniform dough.
3. Shape dough into a flat disk.  Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes (may be made 2 days ahead).
4. Roll out chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness.  Cut 3-inch circles with a cookie cutter or drinking glass.
5. Place 1/2 tsp of filling in the center of each circle.
6. Shape into a triangle by folding 2 sides of the circle to the center and pinch together at the sides.  Fold remaining side up to the center and pinch together at the sides.  Some of the filling should be visible in the center.
7. Place hamentashen 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet.  Brush with egg and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes (I baked for less than 20 as my oven gets pretty hot).