homentashen--(message #1)

[Gerald Cohen]

   Here are two references to homentashen:

1) Nathan Süsskind: "Purim pastry homentashen: Why Haman's pockets?"
    _Comments on Etymology_, vol. 18, no. 8, May 1989,
pp.21-22.---reprinted in _Etymology and Linguistic Principles_, vol.
2 (edited by Gerald Leonard Cohen), published by the editor, Rolla,
Missouri, 1991, pp.52-53.

2) Reinhold Aman: Letter on homentashen. _Comments on Etymology_,
vol. 19, no. 4, January 1990, p. 11.

     Nathan Süsskind was Professor Emeritus of German and Jewish
Studies at City College when I met him. And Reinhold Aman, Ph.D. and
editor of _Maledicta_, is a native German.

     Reinhold Aman was able to answer two questions which troubled Süsskind:
Why ear? Why pocket? [The Hebrew term for homentashen translates as
"Haman's ears" and the German translates as "Haman's pockets."]. Aman
writes:

      'The reason for naming certain pastries is simple: they are
named "-ear" or "pocket" because they _look_ like ears or pockets.
This answers the questions "Why _ear_? Why _pocket_?"

      'For example, in English we have "elephant ear", a thin, flat,
sugar-coated pastry resembling an elephant's ear.

      'In Bavaria and parts of Austria there is a pastry called
"Schweinsörl," lit. "little pig's ear" from _Schwein_ "pig" + Ohr
"ear" + diminutive _-l_, causing the -o_ to change to ö).  This is a
rectangular or triangular pastry made of thin dough, fried, and
sometimes covered with powdered sugar.  During frying in oil or
melted butter, the pastry curls up.  It looks like a pig's pointed
and curled ear.

      'In the same regions and in Swabia, there is a pastry called
_Maultasche_, lit. "mouth-pocket." This is a rectangular (sometimes
triangular pastry, with four (or three) corners bent up and over the
top towards the center, filled with plum or other jam, sweet cheese,
etc., and sometimes covered with powdered sugar.  The triangular kind
is similar to our _turnover_.

    'I'm sure your readers familiar with other languages and dialects
could provide examples from other cultures.'

----That concludes R. Aman's comments. They are an excellent and
simple explanation of the _tashen_ part of _homentashen_.  But they
do not account for Haman. One might have expected Mordekhai's pockets
(or ears). Or Esther's. Why would a delicious food be named for a
villain?

     The answer is provided (or at least suggested) by Süsskind. I'll
present that in my second "homentashen" message (tomorrow).

Gerald Cohen