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Purim - The Poppy Seed Connection
Faye Levy
During my years at elementary school at the Hebrew Academy of Washington, DC, I learned that the holiday of Purim commemorates the heroism of Esther, the Jewish wife of the king of Persia. She courageously saved the Jewish community from extermination plotted by the king’s wicked advisor Haman, who makes Jaffar in Disney’s movie “Aladdin” look like a good guy.
We were also told in class that when Esther discovered Haman’s evil designs against the Jews, she fasted for three days and then begged the king to save her people.
As children, what interested us the most was the fact that we were actually encouraged to make noise at the synagogue with our groggers when the name Haman was mentioned during the reading of the Megillah (the Book of Esther). And of course, for us the other main highlight of the holiday was eating hamantaschen.
Our curriculum did not include a discussion of why poppyseeds are the most common filling for hamantaschen. Only much later did I find out that the popularity of poppyseeds is also related to the Purim story.
According to tradition, Esther became a vegetarian when she moved into the king’s palace in order to avoid eating food that was not kosher. To sustain herself, she ate seeds, nuts and legumes, which are rich in nutrients. Therefore many Jewish communities observe a custom of including beans, chickpeas, poppyseeds, nuts and dried fruits in Purim menus and sweets.
North African Jews begin the holiday with a dish of couscous embellished with raisins and enriched with butter. Tunisians serve a first course of fava beans with hard boiled eggs. Moroccan Jews serve a variety of colorful cooked salads as hors d’oeuvres in their Purim banquet. My mother, who was born in Poland, prepared a wonderful kugel of noodles layered with raisins and apples and spiced with cinnamon. Another central European Purim favorite is noodles sprinkled with poppy seeds.
In Queen Esther’s honor, here is a vegetarian menu for Purim.
* Spicy Moroccan carrot salad
* Eggplant puree with garlic and coriander, served with pita bread
* Cumin-scented chickpeas
* Broccoli with lime juice dressing
* Creamy couscous with raisins
* Hamantaschen with poppyseed-raisin filling
Faye Levy is the author of Healthy Cooking for the Jewish Home (Morrow), 1,000 Jewish Recipes (Wiley) and Jewish Cooking For Dummies (Wiley).
SPICY MOROCCAN CARROT SALAD
For this traditional salad the carrots are usually mashed before being seasoned, but I leave the slices whole so they retain an attractive shape and a more interesting texture.
1 pound medium carrots, sliced
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, halved and sliced thin
3 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Moroccan harissa (hot pepper paste) or bottled hot pepper sauce, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/4 teaspoon paprika
In a saucepan cover carrots with water and add salt. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat 20 minutes or until tender.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and saute 5 minutes. Add vinegar, 1/4 cup water, hot pepper sauce, caraway seeds, paprika and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat to low.
When carrots are tender, drain them thoroughly. Add them to vinegar mixture. Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes or until sauce is reduced and coats carrots thoroughly. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Serve hot or cold.
Makes 4 servings.
EGGPLANT PUREE WITH GARLIC AND CORIANDER
This Egyptian specialty takes the celebrated Middle Eastern eggplant salad one step further. Grilled or broiled chopped eggplant is sauteed with garlic, coriander and cumin, which contribute a wonderful flavor. The eggplant makes a delicious hot or cold appetizer with fresh pita bread.
2 pounds medium eggplants
1/4 cup olive oil
6 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and freshly ground pepper
Parsley sprigs and sliced tomatoes (for garnish)
Prick eggplants a few times with fork. Broil eggplants for 30 minutes, turning often, or bake on a foil lined tray at 400F, turning once or twice, about 40 to 50 minutes. When done, eggplant's flesh should be very tender and eggplant should look collapsed. Remove eggplant peel. Cut off stem. Drain off any liquid from inside eggplant. Chop flesh fine with knife.
Heat oil in a heavy, large skillet over low heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in coriander and cumin. Add eggplant and mix well. Cook low heat 4 to 5 minutes to thicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot or cold, garnished with parsley and tomatoes.
Makes 4 servings.
CUMIN-SCENTED CHICKPEAS
Plainly boiled chickpeas appear on many Purim menus but I prefer this zesty North African dish, in which cumin and garlic give the beans an enticing aroma. If you like, serve a few cucumber slices on the side for a refreshing accent. This is a very simple recipe if you have already cooked chickpeas or if you use canned ones.
3 1/2 to 4 cups cooked chickpeas or two 14-ounce cans (see Note below)
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 large garlic cloves, chopped
a 28-ounce can tomatoes, drained and diced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
salt to taste
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon bottled hot sauce, or to taste
Cucumber slices (optional, for accompaniment)
If using canned chickpeas, discard liquid, rinse chickpeas and drain; but do not discard the cooking liquid from cooked dried chickpeas.
Heat oil in a saute pan or wide saucepan, add garlic and saute 1/2 minute over medium heat. Add tomatoes, cumin, paprika and salt and simmer 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and 3/4 cup chickpea cooking liquid or water and bring to a boil. Add chickpeas and hot sauce. Simmer uncovered over medium-low heat about 10 minutes or until sauce is of desired thickness. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve hot. Accompany by cucumber slices.
Makes 4 to 6 main-course servings.
Note: To cook dried chickpeas, use 1 1/2 cups for this recipe. Sort beans and soak overnight in cold water to generously cover. Drain and put in a saucepan. Add 6 cups cold water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer about 1 1/2 hours, adding hot water occasionally to keep them covered with water. Add a pinch of salt and continue simmering 30 to 45 minutes or until tender. Reserve cooking liquid.
BROCCOLI WITH LIME DRESSING
Here is an easy way to add interest to boiled or steamed broccoli. Serve the broccoli hot as an accompaniment or cold as an appetizer.
4 teaspoons strained fresh lime juice
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon bottled hot sauce, or to taste
1 1/2 pounds broccoli, divided in florets
1/2 red or white onion, sliced thin, slices divided in slivers
Whisk lime juice with salt and pepper. Whisk in oil and hot sauce to taste. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Add broccoli to a large saucepan of boiling salted water and boil uncovered over high heat 4 or 5 minutes or until florets are crisp-tender. Drain in a colander, rinse briefly with cold water and drain well. Transfer to a bowl. Add onion and dressing and toss. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve hot, cold or at room temperature.
Makes 4 servings.
CREAMY COUSCOUS WITH RAISINS
Serve a bowl of this rich couscous as a dessert somewhat reminiscent of rice pudding. I often enjoyed it in couscous restaurants in Paris.
1/4 to 1/2 cup butter
1 1 /2 cups couscous (about 10 ounces)
Pinch of salt
2/3 cup dark raisins
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup hot milk (for serving)
Cut butter in 1/2-tablespoon-size pieces and let come to room temperature.
Combine couscous with a small pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Shake pan to spread couscous in an even layer. Scatter 6 pieces (3 tablespoons) of butter over couscous. Top with raisins. Bring 1 1/2 cups milk to a boil in a medium saucepan and pour it evenly over couscous. Immediately cover saucepan of couscous tightly and let stand 5 minutes. Scatter remaining butter pieces on top, cover and let couscous stand 1 minute. Fluff mixture with a fork to break up any lumps in couscous, tossing until mixture is blended.
Serve couscous in heated bowls. Serve hot milk separately in a pitcher.
Makes 4 servings.
HAMANTASCHEN WITH POPPYSEED-RAISIN FILLING
For these hamantaschen, I use a tender, lightly sweetened dough. It is easy to work with; rolling it and shaping the hamantaschen is a pleasure.
When shaping hamantaschen, close them well and do not be tempted to use extra filling, or it will come out during baking.
For the filling, I find that the poppy seeds taste best when cooked in milk, a technique I learned during the years I lived in Israel. This makes the filling creamy. If you want to make it pareve, use soy milk. Buy fresh poppy seeds at a Jewish or Eastern European market and keep them in the refrigerator.
There are several stages of the hamantaschen preparation that you can do in advance. The dough will keep up to 3 days in the refrigerator. The shaped unbaked hamantaschen can be refrigerated overnight. You can keep the baked hamantaschen up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Orange-Scented Dough
1 large egg
2 to 3 tablespoons sour cream
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
14 tablespoons (7 ounces) cold butter or margarine, cut in small pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
Poppyseed filling
3/4 cup fresh poppyseeds (1/4 pound)
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Dough: Beat egg with 2 tablespoons sour cream. Combine flour, powdered sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor. Process briefly to blend. Scatter butter pieces over mixture. Mix using on/off motion until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle with grated zest and pour egg mixture evenly over mixture in processor. Process with on/off motion, scraping down occasionally, until dough just begins to come together in a ball. If mixture is dry, add remaining tablespoon sour cream, putting it in teaspoons over mixture, and process briefly again.
Transfer dough to a work surface. Knead lightly to blend. With a rubber spatula, transfer dough to a sheet of plastic wrap, wrap it and push it together. Shape dough in a flat disk. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
Filling: If you like, grind poppyseeds in a spicy grinder so filling will have a finer texture. In a small saucepan combine poppyseeds, milk, sugar and honey and bring to a simmer. Cook over low heat, stirring often, about 15 to 20 minutes or until thick. Add raisins and butter and stir over low heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Stir in grated zest. Chill well before using.
Use one quarter of dough at a time. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface until about 3 mm thick. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut dough in circles. Brush edges lightly with water. Put 1 teaspoon filling in center of each. Pull up edges of circle in 3 arcs that meet in center above filling. Close them firmly. Pinch edges to seal. Put on greased baking sheet and refrigerate. Refrigerate scraps.
Roll remaining dough and scraps and shape more hamantaschen. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before baking to firm dough. (They can be kept overnight in refrigerator.)
Preheat oven to 375F. Bake hamantaschen about 14 minutes or until they are light golden at edges. Cool on a rack. (They can be kept for about 4 days in an airtight container.)
Makes about 32 hamantaschen.
