Jews around the world just celebrated the holiday of Purim by eating hamantashen, pastries traditionally filled with poppy seed or prune filling. Many other fillings are also baked in hamantashen, including apricot, chocolate, nutella, and even pb&j. The triangular shaped treats are said to represent Haman’s three-cornered hat. In Hebrew, the pastry is called Oznei-Haman, or Haman’s ears. There is another traditional Jewish food that is also served on Purim, but which is not as commonly known. What is that food?

Hamantashen by Mark D. Zimmerman is in the public domain

A. Blintzes are served for breakfast on Purim, as they are symbolic of the rolled up Megillah scroll that is read on the holiday.

B. Kreplach, the stuffed noodle dumpling, is served on Purim. One explanation is that the filling inside the kreplach is hidden, which is symbolic of Esther’s hidden secret of being Jewish.

C. Pomegranates are served in Chassidic households based on gematria, the system of converting words to their numerical value. Both Purim and Pomegranate have a value of 379.

D. Some Sephardic communities serve cholent on Purim because there is a traditional Sephardic cholent known as hamin, which is reminiscent of Haman.

E. Hanger steak is traditionally served as a Purim main course meal, in reference to the fact that Haman was hanged on the gallows.

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