36 | MARCH 10 • 2022
PURIM
T
hings don’t get much better for a chef than when
your local Jewish News includes your voice as a
culinary contributor. I’ve spent decades honing
this craft, and it took just as long to muster enough cour-
age to contact their editors.
In my cover letter, I typed up my background, explain-
ing how much it would mean to me to share cooking
with our community. When I finished, I sat in front of
my computer and whispered, “seize the day,
” and pushed
send.
To my delight, they were willing to give me a try. I
replied in thanks and started getting excited. When the
first assignment came in, my heart sank a little. It was a
column about Hamantaschen, the famous Purim cookie,
which falls squarely into the category of baking.
Baking is something I typically don’t do, and anyone
who knows me knows that. I already felt way out of my
comfort zone. I have plenty to say about cooking, but
am on the opposite end of the spectrum with baking
and pastry. These two subjects filled me with dread all
throughout culinary school.
It’s not that I can’t make them or appreciate their art-
forms, I do. I just never really enjoyed it, mostly because
of their finicky measurements and tedious methodolo-
gies. It requires patience to wait for things to cool, rise
or set up. It’s also heartbreaking to throw a cake in the
trash over a tiny miscalculation that ruined it. At least
with cooking, it’s possible to correct an error and save the
dish.
I thought about who to call to get some baking guid-
ance. I needed somebody who loved doing it and was
also good at it. The perfect person to start with was my
friend Mary Jo Israel. On the phone she told me, “It’s so
easy! I’ll send you my recipe. You’re going to be fine.
” I
hoped so, beginning to feel a little better.
The next call I made was to Rachel Levine, a dear
friend, gifted teacher and the assistant director at Temple
Israel’s preschool. If anyone could explain Hamantaschen
at the most basic level, it would be her. “Can you please
tell me everything you can about Purim and making
Hamantaschen?”
With the holiday around the corner, her lesson plans
were ready to go. Even better, they included recipes! I
now had enough options to bypass the need to create a
recipe from scratch, pun intended.
Reading through these different recipes, I noticed
that they all seemed to share the same nomadic quali-
ty. It was impossible to pinpoint their origins, which I
Celebrate Purim with these
Hamantaschen recipes.
Start
MICHELLE KOBERNICK
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
A
The Hamantaschen in the photos
were lovingly prepared by Star
Bakery in Oak Park.
WWW.THESTARBAKERY.COM