Cookies on the Brain

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Because I forgot to do this post before spring break, Purim has now passed. And because of that and our presentation on taste, I've been thinking a lot about cookies. I've been making hamantaschen every year for Purim since I was sixteen? Seventeen? I don't know, young enough that it's been a while, but old enough that I was the one who taught myself how to make them. Well, a Jewish food blog taught me how to make them, but same difference. I was genuinely thinking about Perez' book while making them this year, especially how in the Lucumi religion, it's important to be a part of the preparation of food.

To be honest, I don't know how to cook. Neither of my parents were big chefs and I never tried all that hard to learn, so my talents don't extend far past pasta and grilled cheese. Baking has always been much easier (I think someone in class compared baking to science and cooking to art? I stand by that) and I've always had a big sweet tooth, so I managed to become the one who bakes in my family.

Hamantaschen are probably my favorite things to bake (I also make sufganiyot for Hannuka, but unlike sufganiyot, hamantaschen have never caused an incident that filled my entire kitchen with smoke). This is partially just because they're fun? But also something about them is very communal. While it's always been my thing to make them, it always ends up roping my family in, usually my siblings, often my mom, occasionally my mom's boyfriend's kids (one of whom genuinely enjoys helping and one of whom gets distracted approximately four minutes in). And while I occasionally end up lording it over my siblings when I told them they were overfilling them and going to make them explode in the oven, we usually manage to get along for the time it takes to cut the dough and fold the cookies. They're also the sort of cookie that's made to give away. I like eating them, but giving them to people is almost more fun for me.

While the more blood and guts part of making food for the orishas would definitely not sit well in my stomach, the idea of making significant foods with your community for people you care about (or other than human persons), was certainly not a foreign concept.

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