My third oldest brother, Jordan, spent the day today standing, snacking, and conversing with my Bubbie Flo and Zaidy Joel in their retro-tiled kitchen. As usual, something is being baked, boiled, chopped, or rolled. Today, racks of freshly baked hamentashen rest on the countertops, the fruit of our family’s annual hamantaschen baking tradition.
This time, however, Jordan’s work is beyond the rolling pin. He’s compiling a cookbook called Bubbie Flo’s Kitchen, in which he’s collecting all of her many recipes. I think he’ll be Bubbie’s age by the time he’s finished, but he’s determined to complete it. He’s been going over to my grandparent’s house every Sunday morning to cook one of her recipes for a few months, jot down her shitteryne recipes, and simply enjoy the company of my wonderful Bubbie and Zaidy.
With my family crowded around the kitchen table, Jordan opens a 30-page document of what he’s compiled so far. Noodle strudel, zucchini bread, coleslaw, potato knishes, scalloped potatoes (microwaved roux, because a culinary wizard like her doesn’t play by the rules), curried cauliflower, salmon patties, hearts of palm salad, chocolate brownie cookies, applesauce, and, of course, hamantaschen.
As we indulge in the hamantaschen very preemptively (two weeks before Purim to ensure they’re not poisonous), Jordan tells us about how he and Bubbie baked a total of 110 today. But not all of them will stay in Ottawa. Bubbie Flo always mails at least 25 to Victoria for my Uncle Andrew claiming that they always stay fresh along their journey thanks to the harsh Canadian winter.
Bubbie Flo can’t remember a time without the triangular treats. “They were always there,” she says, her voice warm with fond memories. “My mother made them every year. I can’t remember a single Purim without them.”
When she married my Zaidy Joel, the tradition continued. She baked them year after year—so many that she lost count. “I’ve made them every year I can remember,” she says. “Every time I say, this may be the last year,but then I find myself rolling out the dough again.”
After many years, she savours the ritual all the same. The folding, the pinching, the anticipating. Because “Purim wouldn’t be Purim without hamantashen”—and for my family, definitely not without the hands that shape them.
Hamantaschen are a real patschke, so I wondered what motivates Bubbie to churn out so many of them. “It’s tradition.” she tells me. “I love the Jewish holidays; it’s important to pass all this through the generations.”
Although she concedes they’re “nicest to make with Jordan,” Bubbie says they’re “just as nice to make with family and people you love because, most of all, you’re carrying on the rich tradition.” This Purim, I encourage you to gather those you love and try out this legendary Bubbie Flo recipe. As Bubbie reminds me, “although they’re lots of work, they’re always worth it.”
RECIPE
The dough is from “A Treasure for my Daughter” cookbook, probably sitting in your mother’s recipe drawer at home. Bubbie does her own apricot and prune filling.
For the dough
2 ½ cups sifted all purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten
½ cup sugar
½ cup olive oil
Juice and grated rind of ½ orange
1 teaspoon vanilla
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine two of the eggs with the sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add flour mixture, knead until smooth. Roll out dough to ¼-inch thick. Cut into circles, with a cookie cutter or a glass. Place a spoonful of filling in the center of each and pinch three corners to form a hamantaschen. Brush over with the third egg [well beaten]. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees fahrenheit.
FILLINGS
Poppy seed filling (store-bought)
Apricot: Cut up a cup of dried apricot, cover in orange juice, microwave for 30 second increments, stir for 2 minutes. You want the apricots to get mushy and absorb the orange juice. Then blend, add a tablespoon of sugar, and mix it in.
Prune filling: Cut prunes into small pieces, and add to a blender with a peeled apple, ⅓ cup raisins, and orange juice. Once the orange juice is absorbed, put back in the blender with a tablespoon of sugar (cinnamon is optional).
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