Originally this pastry, now associated with Purim and mishloah manot, had nothing to do with Haman, Purim or ears.
The original German spelling was Mohntaschen, or “pockets (filled with) poppyseed,” * which in Yiddish became Homen-tashen, or “pockets of Haman,” and thus it became associated with Purim among the Ashkenazi Jews. ** The triangular shape (resembling Napoleon’s hat), plus a midrash (on Esther 6:12) on Haman’s ears led to the Hebrew ozne-Haman, or “Haman’s ears.”
*Poppyseeds used to be the main filling, but now other fillings are used as well, such as walnuts, sesames, dates, halva, apricot jelly and chocolate.
**Mizrahi Jews, such as the Jews of Iraq and Iran, ate at Purim (and Chanukah) zalabiya (zoolbiya) a kind of doughnut or pancake.
Yona Sabar is a professor of Hebrew and Aramaic in the department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures at UCLA
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