Hamentashen in Harlem

Each year there comes a day when I set aside this bagel business and make room for a three-cornered pastry known as the hamentashen. It’s a tough cookie to love, as the middle of the hamentashen is usually filled with prunes or poppy seeds – not exactly the stuff that inspires pastry passion.

Still, today I feel obligated to show the hamentashen a little respect, as the Jewish holiday of Purim is in full swing until sundown this evening. It’s a celebration that commemorates a major victory for the Jews some 2,500 years ago, when the lovely Queen Esther was able to thwart Prime Minister Haman’s nefarious plot to destroy the Jewish people.

The hamentashen represents the three-sided hat that Haman wore as he planned his dastardly deed, and the triangular pastry has become a Jewish symbol of good overcoming evil. Today, much in the same vein, big cookie has overcome small. Just hours ago, a half-ton hamentashen was unveiled in a Jerusalem bakery. Weighing in at 1,012-pounds, officials say its an achievement worthy of the Guiness Book of World Records.

Even though I’d prefer a pint-size bagel to a heaping helping of hamenstashan any day, I wish someone would break off a couple chunks from the behemoth Israeli cookie and send them over to East Harlem – finding a hamentashen here hasn't been easy. Although I'm optimistic about finding a fresh bagel in El Barrio, I've got my doubts about the hamentashen. I suppose that's the way the cookie crumbles...