Yid.dish: Ha + mohn + tashen (poppyseed filling)
Image by JCarrot
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 poppy seed filling Hamentashen. 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 poppy seed 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 poppy seeds 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.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
