By Joe Baur
This article originally appeared on The Nosher.
With the festival of Purim a little more than a week away, a Jewish-American baker in the German capital of Berlin has turned to her kitchen to whip up hamantaschen to support Ukrainian refugees fleeing the ongoing Russian invasion.
Laurel Kratochvila, the owner of Fine Bagels, a New York-style bagel shop on Berlin’s east side, got the idea when she was stuck at home quarantining with COVID and spent an entire day watching the news.
“My husband was raised in Czechoslovakia in the post-’68 Russian occupation and we were both heartbroken — him even more so,” Kratochvila said.
That led to a discussion between the two about how they could contribute to the Ukrainian cause. Purim — which will be observed March 16-17 — was just around the corner, when they would normally be making poppy seed and chocolate hamantaschen anyway. (Hamantaschen are the fruit-filled, triangular pastries eaten on Purim to celebrate Persian Jewry’s triumph over Haman and his forces.)
So they decided to launch “Hamantaschen For Ukraine” and donate their proceeds to Polish Humanitarian Action, an organization that is distributing food, hot drinks, diapers, hygiene products and blankets, as well as providing information and transportation for newly arrived refugees from Ukraine.
So far, more than 30 home bakers and bakeries from Warsaw to Portland, Oregon, have signed up. A full list of participants can be found under “where to find hamantashen!” on their site.
(Among the local participants are Two Crabs Bakery, a Baltimore-based micro-bakery operated by pastry chefs Theresa Louis and Christopher Audia, and in Whipped Up Bakery in Bethesda. For information about Two Crabs Bakery, preorder here through Saturday, March 12, and follow their their Instagram page.
After the invasion began, Kratochvila said she felt helpless and eager to do something (not to mention feeling flushed with fond memories of briefly visiting Ukraine on a heritage trip just six months earlier).
The response from Jewish bakers across the United States was immediate and decisive. From Los Angeles and Chicago, to Philadelphia and New York City, Jews were eager to lend their hamantaschen to the cause.
Tamar Fasja Unikel, co-owner of Masa Madre in Chicago, said “coming together with a world of bakers seems ideal to show the world is watching. Purim is a holiday about survival and fight, and I hope that people around the world can learn the message.”
Masa Madre will sell packs of six hamantaschen featuring their unique flavors this year — Peanut Mazapán, Cajeta Oblea and Guava Ate — and they will donate a third of all their profits.
Megan Tucker, the owner of the L.A.-based vegan Jewish deli Mort & Betty’s, felt compelled as well to get involved. “Both my grandparents’ families survived and fled Soviet pogroms in Lithuania. This part of my family history makes me want to do what I do best to support Ukrainian refugees,” she said.
That means making sweet and savory hamantaschen using tart cherries and rye that Tucker said are traditional in Ukrainian cuisine.
At Mamaleh’s Delicatessen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Rachel Sundet is donating 10 percent of all their hamantaschen sales to the fundraiser.
“We’ve participated in similar kinds of fundraisers (like some of the Bakers Against Racism initiatives),” said Sundet. “And it always feels better to have something to do in times when we feel helpless to what’s going on in the world.”
Supporters can choose from three flavors — chocolate-toffee, raspberry-halvah, and date-walnut-white chocolate — to purchase individually or in boxes of 12 from March 14 through March 20.
As word of the fundraiser got out, Chef Jeremy Umansky jumped on board, promising to start offering plum and peach hamantaschen for the cause next week at his Larder Delicatessen and Bakery in Cleveland.
“My family fled Ukraine to escape Russian persecution and death several generations ago,” said Umansky. “To see the same thing happen again in my lifetime is devastating. Coming together with my Ukrainian sisters and brothers and supporting them against the atrocities that they are currently experiencing is the least that I can do. May the Ukrainian people emerge from this stronger than ever!”
Additional culinary-based initiatives are underway as well. Fan-Fan Doughnuts in Brooklyn, New York, posted that they will “Bake For Ukraine,” selling ponchiki, a type of Ukrainian doughnut, from March 14 through March 20 with proceeds going towards a Ukrainian organization assisting children impacted by the ongoing war.
There’s also “Cook For Ukraine” with New York-based DACHA 46 joining forces with Alissa Timoshkina, a Russian food creative in London, and Chef Olia Hercules, who has been especially outspoken throughout the invasion. The Ukrainian cookbook author has family in the country, including her parents and a brother who recently joined the territorial defense in Kyiv.
Kratochvila said she’s overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response from bakers across Europe and the United States who are jumping in, donating their time and energy for this fundraiser.
“I know it’s not going to stop Putin,” she said. “But hopefully, it will help some people who are in a very desperate situation.”
Bakeries, cafés, and home bakers who wish to join the effort can contact Hamantashen For Ukraine.
Jmore staff contributed to this article, which was provided by the JTA global Jewish news source.
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