Photo: Flickr/Plutor

The Jewish holiday of Purim happens this weekend and that means it’s time to break out our favorite “hat food.”  I’m not joking.  The traditional holiday cookie “Hamantaschen”  actually means the hat of Haman, Purim’s notorious villain.

Mini (and I mean mini) history lesson:

Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction.  The plot was devised by Haman, royal vizier to King Ahasuerus.   Haman’s plot was foiled by Mordechai (a Jew) and Queen Esther (also a Jew) and let’s just say, he didn’t survive the experience.  The story is recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther (Megillat Esther).

Now back to the cookie.

It’s a yummy one and can be filled with a variety of delights including poppy seeds, prunes, apricot jam,  even chocolate.   But one cookbook author Jayne Cohen of “Beyond Brisket,” a cooking blog based at Jewish Woman Magazine, isn’t totally satisfied with those average fillings.  She’s challenging adventure-loving cooks to come up with their own ideas.

Nutella, much?

Jayne asks you to send in your recipe (as well as the reason for your ingenious filling) by April 1st. Get into the game HERE and grab her great recipe for hamantaschen dough while you’re there. While you’re at it, make sure you let us know your fantastic ideas.  Comment below!

More:

• New York Time: Joan Nathan on the modern hamantaschen