Culinary Heritage
Feasts of Shushan
The Megillah is punctuated by feasts — the king's 180-day banquet, Esther's two fateful dinners, and the joyful celebrations that followed the reversal. Purim cuisine is where Persian culinary tradition meets Jewish celebration.
Hamantaschen
The classic Purim cookie
The triangular filled pastry that has become synonymous with Purim. Whether the shape recalls Haman’s hat, his ears, or the lots he cast, hamantaschen are the taste of the holiday itself — buttery dough folded around poppy seed, date, or chocolate filling.
Persian Tahdig
The golden crisp of Shushan
The crown jewel of Persian rice cookery — a golden, shattering crust of saffron-scented rice formed at the bottom of the pot. Tahdig is a dish worthy of the 180-day feast of Ahasuerus, and it remains the pride of Persian tables today.
Shalach Manot Gift Baskets
The mitzvah of sending portions
The Megillah commands sending gifts of food to friends and provisions to the poor. Shalach manot baskets are an art form — curated with care, wrapped with beauty, and delivered with the joy that defines Purim’s communal spirit.
Queen Esther’s Royal Feast
A menu fit for the palace
Esther invited the king and Haman to not one but two private feasts before she revealed her identity. A royal Purim menu draws on Persian culinary tradition — jeweled rice, herb stews, rosewater desserts — to recreate a table worthy of that fateful banquet.
Mordechai’s Mishloach Manot
Gifts between friends
A thoughtfully assembled collection of ready-to-eat delicacies sent to neighbors and loved ones. The tradition turns Purim into a day of generosity, where every doorstep becomes part of the celebration.
The Tradition of Feasting
Purim is one of the few Jewish holidays where feasting is not merely permitted but commanded. The Megillah itself establishes the 14th and 15th of Adar as days of “feasting and gladness, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.”
The food of Purim carries the story. Every hamantasch recalls the villain. Every shalach manot basket enacts the generosity the Megillah commands. And every table set for the Purim seudah echoes Esther's own banquets — meals where courage was served alongside the wine.
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