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Hamantshen in Tel Aviv


So, I have sacrificed myself.  I have eaten my way through Tel Aviv one hamantashen at a time.  This traditional Purim cookie is everywhere these days and each bakery bakes them in their own special way. The basics are the same; a cookie is shaped like a triangle and filled with something nice and sweet. The more common fillings are poppy seed, chocolate or jams, but here in Tel Aviv I got to sample some really creative variations like halva, pistachio and cherry or date.

The tradition to eat Hamantashen on Purim seems to have its origins in Europe. Hamantashen is derived from two German words: mohn (poppy seed) and  taschen (pockets). Mohntaschen (poppyseed pockets) were a popular German pastry dating from medieval times.

German Jews dubbed them Hamantashen or "Haman's pockets". The play on words likely references the rumor that Haman's pockets were filled with bribes. Another explanation is that the shape of the cookie resembles Haman's three corner hat. Yet another, is that the three corners represent Queen Ester's strength and the founders of Judaism: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Hamantashen are also called "oznay Hama" - "Haman's ears" in Hebrew. The name comes from the old practice of cutting off criminal's ears before executing them by hanging.

I will do a full posting on Purim with an explanation about the holiday.

So, lets go back to my tasting many, many Hamantashen in Tel Aviv.

I have only baked Hamantashen once, at my son's nursery school. They were actually pretty decent in spite of the fact that 14 toddlers manhandled them.  I usually buy them from a local bakery or get the industrial sized package from a warehouse club. Some of them are good but most are dry, sandy and leave a strange film on the roof of my mouth.

Almost all of the Tel Aviv Hamantashen were far superior to those back in New York, with the exception of the ones from Breads Bakery (Lehamim in Tel Aviv, with two outposts in New York City). Breads Bakery, my favorite bakery in NYC,  wins the Hamantashen contest by far.

The following are the best of the best. These were delicious, perfectly executed little treats.


Back to Tel Aviv, Roladin/Arcaffe's were rather tasty and had a good amount of chocolate filling.














I loved the Hamantaschen at Milk in Jaffa.  They were really delicate, and had some interesting fillings like halva/orange and pistacio/cherry.

Good amount of poppy filling.






I am partial to Lehamin.  I have loved their products for a few years now and visit their bakery in NYC quite regularly.  So yes, I loved their Hamantashen.  The dough was a bit thinner than most but that made the it more delicate and refined.





My husband enjoyed the date filling.


I also tried their savory potato Hamantashen, it was delicious when still warm.



Dallal in Neve Tsedek.






In the name of research I have tried all three flavors: chocolate, poppy seed and pistachio.  They were all terrific, perfectly baked and had the perfect dough to filling ratio.






There are plenty of wonderful bakeries in Tel Aviv, they all have great Hamantashen but these few were most appealing to me.  Next year I will do a much more extensive research!

Joanna

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