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