Oznei Haman

Blair Penn

Oznei Haman (אוזני המן), or, “Haman’s ears,” is the name for the celebratory pastry that Jewish people eat on the festival of Purim. These cookies are triangular in shape and made with a type of shortbread dough that’s filled with just about anything, but most commonly, jam and chocolate. Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from what would have been their complete annihilation at the hands of Haman, an official of the Achaemenid empire, in Persia, sometime around the 5th century BCE. Haman’s plans to annihilate the Jews were cleverly foiled by the now celebrated figures Ester and Mordechai, and Purim has become a Jewish holiday of joy, feasting and partying. It’s common for people to host ‘Purim parties where people dress up in costumes.

At these parties and on the day of Purim itself, it is also tradition to eat “oznei haman.” The origin story and meaning of this pastry is highly debated– some say it first originated in the Italian Jewish community in the 14th century and soon spread to Jewish communities across the globe, some say that the pasty represents Haman’s pointy ears, and still others believe it represents the traditional triangular hat that Haman wore. There are many theories, but there is one fact that is undisputed:eating oznei haman is a purim tradition, once that is as synonymous with the holiday as reading the megillah and sending friends gifts of food משלוח מנות (mishloah manot), a tradition that is written in the book of Esther.

The word for the pastry in Yiddish is more often the one used in America, “hamantaschen,” and they are traditionally filled with poppy seeds. The name for these pastries comes from the word Tasch, which means “pocket” in Yiddish, and the word mohn, which is the German and Yiddish word for poppy seeds. Others have said that we eat hamantaschen because “Haman tash” is biblical Hebrew for “Haman was weakened,” which serves as a reminder that Mordechai could only beat Haman because God weakened him. However, in 1912, the Hebrew Language Committee decided the official Hebrew name for Hamantaschen would be oznei Haman, translated as ‘Haman’s ear,” so while we may never settle on one meaning for this pastry, it will always stay a Purim favorite.

The story behind these pastries, whether you call them hamantaschen or oznei haman, is certainly confusing. However, I love these versatile pastries, as they are easy to make, customizable, and versatile because you can fill them with just about anything from dates, to chocolate, and even spinach. I’ve made these cookies a few times, and enjoyed making them with my Israeli Cultural Club, UChicago Kehillah, to celebrate Purim together. Here is our recipe and how our cookies turned out.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 large eggs
⅔ cup sugar
¼ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 and ¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1-5 teaspoons water

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, canola oil, and vanilla. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet, using a large wooden spoon and using circular motions until a crumbly dough begins to form.

Knead until smooth and slightly tacky to the touch. Try not to overwork the dough, only knead till the dough is the right consistency. If the crumbles are too dry to form a smooth dough, add water slowly, 1 teaspoon at a time, using your hands to knead the liquid into the dough.

Knead and add liquid until the dough is smooth and slightly tacky to the touch (not sticky), with a consistency that is right for rolling out. It can easily go from the right consistency to too wet/sticky, so add water very slowly. If the dough seems too wet, knead in a little flour until it reaches the right texture.

After that, divide the dough into balls, and from there fold the corners to make them into triangles and add your fillings. Then bake for 20-25 min and enjoy!