The holiday of Purim falls on 9 March this year. Even though the holiday specifically celebrates Queen Esther's triumph over Haman, the wicked Prime Minister of the ancient kingdom of Persia, the holiday does fall at the same time of the year as the pagan Rites of Spring and the Christian celebrations that mark the forty days immediately preceding Easter. During pagan days it was believed that this was the time of year when it was most logical to plead with the gods for the end of winter and the onset of a warmer and more gentle season. In Christianity, the holiday, known as Fasching in Germany, Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Fastnacht in Switzerland, marks the time of year marked by the renewal of the greenery in the fields.

That Purim falls more or less during the same time each year as the former Roman Bacchanlia and the more modern Christian celebrations may be merely coincidence, but each of the holidays has certain things in common, involving costumes, theatrical productions, dancing, singing and the generous consumption of wine.

From the time of Rome, this holiday season has had special meaning to men and women who admired good food. Roman general and gastronome Lucullus remarked that "it is not so much for warm weather that we pray as it is for the return of the tasty fish that swim in the Tiber River in April". Apicius, another famous Roman gourmet and the author of the first cookbook still in existence, observed that "I do not know why other men pray. I pray because with the onset of spring one can look forward to a harvest of fine vegetables, of fat hens and for the birth of the many succulent lambs that will soon fill our stomachs".

first Roman to record the rites of spring in detail was the poet Juvenal who, in about 55 B.C.E. wrote that "these days are devoted to street parades, wild speeches, great fun, fine dining and, above all else, to the pleasures of wine, women and song". As in modern day Vienna, Rio de Janeiro and Tel Aviv, the Romans often dressed in silly costumes, ate too much and enjoyed a bit of religiously approved drunkenness. Juvenal also wrote that "even the slaves in charge of our kitchens make this a special day, inventing all kinds of outrageous dishes to add to our pleasure".

One of the most inventive dishes with which to celebrate Purim, Mardi Gras or Fasching are the famous "Faschingkrapfen", fried cakes similar to jelly doughnuts. Unlike the soofganiot of Chanukah, which probably originated in Poland, faschingkrapfen were first made in Vienna, probably about 600 years ago, especially for the holiday season.

So popular are these cakes that during the Congress of Vienna in 1815, some 15 million were said to have been eaten. Even today, there are more than 1500 pastry shops and 800 coffee houses in Vienna, all of which have their own version of these delightful cakes. Personally, I think the best Faschingkrapfen in the world are made in Vienna's world famous Konditorei Demel (Kohlmarketstrasse 18). Men should take special care, however, for if a Viennese woman breaks her Fashingkrapfen in half and you accept one of the halves this will be considered a firm commitment to marry her.

Fashingkrapfen

15 grams dry yeast
generous pinch of sugar
350 grams flour, sifted
1/4 tsp. salt
30 gr. sugar
6 egg yolks, beaten lightly
6 Tbsp. sweet cream
1 Tbsp. rum
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/ 2 cups apricot jam
oil or fat for deep frying
confectioners' sugar as required

Notes: 1 - Before starting, make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. 2 - Even though Germans and Viennese fry these cakes in lard or goose fat, my own preference is to fry them in a
mixture of 2/3 vegetable oil and 1/3 butter.

In a small glass with 1/4 cup of lukewarm water dissolve the yeast and a pinch of sugar. Let stand for several minutes and then stir to dissolve the yeast. Let stand for several minutes longer, until the yeast begins to bubble.

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the flour and into it the yeast solution, sugar, egg yolks, sweet cream, rum, orange juice and vanilla. Blend the ingredients together with a wooden spoon and then continue to blend until a medium firm dough is obtained.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a large, lightly buttered bowl. Dust the top of the dough lightly with flour,cover with a kitchen towel and let stand in a warm, draft-free spot until the dough has almost doubled in bulk (about 45 minutes). Punch the dough down, place it on a floured surface and roll into a circle about 1/2 centimeter thick. With a 6 cm.pastry cutter, cut the dough into as many circles as possible. Shape the remaining scraps of dough into a ball and roll out again to a thickness of 1/2 centimeter, and again cut out circles. Repeat this process until all of the dough is used.

Drop one teaspoon of jam onto the centers of half the circles and cover each of these with the remaining circles. Press the outer edges of each pair of circles together with the fingertips and with a sharp knife or cookie cutter trim off the edges. Place the uncooked cakes on a dry towel that has been dusted with flour and let stand in a warm place for about 20 minutes.

In a large heavy skillet heat oil or fat at least 2 centimeters deep over a low flame until it is almost smoking. With a spatula slide 4 or 5 of the cakes into the hot fat. The cakes will bubble and puff up and in about 2 minutes will be golden brown on the bottom. Turn them over with a slotted spoon and cook a few minutes longer, just until the second side is golden brown. With the slotted spoon remove the cakes from the fat and place them on absorbent toweling. Continue until all of the cakes are cooked. Sprinkle the cakes with confectioners' sugar just before serving. May be served hot or at room temperature. (Yields about 24 cakes).

3 cups rice, cooked
1 1/2 cups sugar
9 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup + 2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. each vanilla extract and nutmeg
generous pinch of salt
confectioners' sugar for serving
deep oil for frying

Combine the rice, sugar, flour, eggs, baking powder, vanilla, nutmeg and salt. Mix well and let stand 15 - 20 minutes.

Preheat deep oil to 190 degrees Celsius and drop the batter into the oil in teaspoonfuls and fry until golden brown (5 - 7 minutes). To serve sprinkle generously with confectioners' sugar. Note: Many New Orleaners serve their callas with quince or raspberry jam.

Let Us Not Forget Haman

For adults and children alike, the sweet most often associated with Purim is the cooky known as in Hebrew as osnei hamon and in Yiddish as humentaschen. Although these can be purchased in many pastry shops, there is great fun to making these marvelous cookies at home. I personally guarantee that the following recipes will delight everyone who
samples them.

For the Dough:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. melted butter
1 egg, beaten lightly
3/4 cup milk
filling of choice (recipes follow)

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, mixing well. Add the milk, melted butter and egg and mix again. On a floured board knead well and then roll out to about 1/4 cm. thickness. Cut out rounds about 6 cm. in diameter.

On the center of each round place 1 heaping tsp. of the filling. Pinch the three sides of the round together to form a triangle and place individually formed cookies on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 180 degrees Celsius until the cookies are golden brown (25 - 30 minutes). (Yields about 30 cookies).

Date Filling:
4 cups chopped dates
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dry or sweet red wine
1/4 cup butter
3 tsp. cinnamon

Place the dates, wine and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over a low flame, stirring constantly until the mixture is pastelike in consistency (8 - 10 minutes). Let cool 10 minutes and then stir in the cinnamon and nuts.

Prune Filling:
1 cup prunes, pitted
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup ground poppy seeds
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Soak the prunes in water to cover for about 3 hours. Drain and chop finely. Combine all the ingredients (except the vanilla) in a saucepan and cook, stirring frequently, over a low flame until the mixture thickens (about 20 minutes). Allow to cool for 15 minutes and then stir in the vanilla.

Raisin and Nut Filling:
1 1/4 cup seedless raisins
1 cup milk
1/2 cup each ground poppy seeds, chopped walnuts and sugar
3 Tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Soak the raisins in water to cover for 2 hours. Drain and chop finely. Combine all of the ingredients, except the vanilla, in a saucepan and cook, stirring frequently, over a low flame until the mixture thickens (about 20 minutes). Allow to cool for 15 - 20 minutes and then stir in the vanilla.

© Daniel Rogov