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Yid.dish: Ha + mohn + tashen (poppyseed filling)

by · March 4th, 2009
Cooking, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Holidays, Honey, Purim, Recipes, Seeds

poppyclose

Why Poppyseed Hamentaschen Are The Only True Hamentaschen – I share this short formula from my father:

Mohn (poppy seed) + Taschen (pockets) = Mohntaschen (poppy seed pocket pastries)

+ Ha (Hebrew definite article) = Hamohntaschen (Haman’s Pockets) or Purim poppy seed pocket pastries

Now, I LOVE poppyseed filling Hamantashen. And seeds are a traditional food for Purim because Esther is supposed to have eaten nuts and seeds during her fast. But I don’t love all of those ingredients you find when you use a can of poppyseed filing, nor do many of my friends. So, what’s a girl to do? Clearly the answer is, make my own! So I did.

The general idea is to

1) soak the poppyseeds overnight – I used about 5 tablespoons
2) blend them with a couple teaspoons of honey (I used some I brought back with me from Israel last Purim). I used my immersion blender for this step.

then use them as you would any other hamentashen filling! Pretty simple, no? Enjoy, and think of Esther.

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7 Responses to “Yid.dish: Ha + mohn + tashen (poppyseed filling)”

  1. Susanne Says:
    March 4th, 2009 at 12:12 pm

    This sounds great. I’d been avoiding mohn filling for the same reason. Question: How much water for the 5T poppyseeds? Do you drain them before blending?

  2. Delilah Says:
    March 4th, 2009 at 12:13 pm

    thansk for the recipe. poppyseed have always been my favorite variety of hamentashen!

  3. Avigail Says:
    March 4th, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    Just enough water to cover. I drained the thing in a cheesecloth – which was a bit messy – but it worked. Enjoy!

  4. Preston Says:
    March 4th, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    I actually just made “Mohn” last night, but I used an old Yid.dish recipe that I found on jcarrot (http://jcarrot.org/sophisticat.....#more-1539).
    Haven’t made the Hamentaschen yet, but I’ll try and remember to comment on how they turned out.

    By the way, your father’s formula has a lot of alliteration, I like it!

  5. jeff Says:
    March 4th, 2009 at 5:55 pm

    Great post, Avigail. It’s amazing to me how Jews love to just borrow other people’s foods (in this case German’s cookie) and make it so that the rest of the world identifies with Jews. Talk about appropriation….

    Quick note on history:

    I was reading up on the hamantaschen the other day and I read that mantaschen was, in fact, a popular German cookie filled with poppies. However, the “Ha” was added not as the Hebrew definite article, but rather, as a clever way of Judaicizing this delicious treat, playing with the name “mantaschen” and adding the prefix “ha” to have a new way to celebrate the holiday.

  6. Avigail Hurvitz-Prinz Says:
    March 5th, 2009 at 7:50 am

    Thanks Jeff. I’m not surprised that Jews adapt and use other people’s food traditions (clothes – black suits & hats, languages – Yiddish, Ladino) – that’s the way of history for all peoples and cultures. Jew have been particularly adaptable, I suppose.

    This reminds me of a conversation about “authentic Jewish food” we were having on the blog around falafel- which we identify now as an Israeli food but has long been an Arab staple. It is, of course, both, but who claims it and how is, of course, a political issue. I like the story you found as well. Origin myths are important in this cultural adaptation/appropriation game.

    Plus, the triangle = Haman’s ear/hat makes NO SENSE to me.

  7. Wanda Ruth Staley Says:
    October 16th, 2011 at 10:10 am

    I absolutely love your web-sit. I have Jenny Grosinger’s cookbook and it is priceless even if a bit dated. I think the Ha was added to make the name more lyrical and there are so ha s in the language. Thank you and I would like to rec. your newsleter. I used to make gifelte fish the old fashion way – had there been any progress in making it easier. Thanks Ms. S

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