Purim approaches and shows the crowded ears waiting for us in the confectioner's shop windows. • What is Israel's favorite filling and which Haman ear won first place?

• Jacobs. Haman ears personality

Purim around the corner, and those who have been visiting the confectionery these days, are aware that they are struggling to reinvent the wheel in Hamman's ears, with every year the variety of innovations and fills only increasing.

If you crave poppy or simple chocolate, think again. As the years go by, creativity increases. For example, this year, Roldin is launching flavors such as marzipan raspberries, rose water and berry marmalade, baked cheese and spice cookies with caramel glaze, hazelnut cream and chocolate chips and even pecorino cream cheese and black pepper.

Roldin and confectioner Mickey, too, stood out on Chanukah with special donuts and invested, and so did Purim, with its name offering muffins in plum wine, marzipan and even muffins larger than yeast dough containing various fillings. Alongside them, national networks also display colorful and special fillings.

Haman ears are a symbol of the holiday, and as a result sales like that, Noa Bachar, CEO of Roldin, says that every year we sell between 90-100 tons of Haman ears, according to Mickey's name, about 500,000 units are sold during the year, and Amir Porat, the owner of the confectionery. "Biscotti" added that "In Biscotti, we will sell about 370,000 Haman ears this year, which is over 6,000 kg Haman ears."

Chocolate, poppy or surprise?

As mentioned, the flavors are becoming more and more varied, the question of whether this is the Israeli public's need. Bachar: "The best-selling flavors in Braldine, which account for 70% of sales, are the classic flavors. 30% poppy, 25% chocolate, 15% date and 30% new flavors. True, according to these figures, Israelis still prefer the poppy filling, but nonetheless Love to experiment with new and creative flavors. "

His name adds that, "The most popular fillings are poppy-filled manna ears and chocolate-filled manna ears. The other innovations that came this year are unique mousse fillers such as marzipan and cherry emerna, dates and nuts, and halva stuffing. , Just like our mothers used to make. We see the demand increasing and adapting to the request of our clientele. "

Porat claims that the popular filling is chocolate, which leads to 35% of sales. Then the poppy is placed with 20% of sales and then: cappuccino, halva and dates with 15% of sales per filling. As you can see from the sales breakdown, chocolate is the leading flavor, followed by the poppy in second place. This is because chocolate is a more popular taste for Israelis, while Poppy, although affiliated with the holiday, is controversial in terms of taste for some people. "

How much does it cost us

On Purim holiday, of course, it is impossible to ignore the high prices of the Haman ears, which can reach NIS 6 per unit. According to Becher, "Haman's ears are sold like every year at NIS 12 per 100 grams. All of Rawdin's Haman ears are hand-made, every day very high quality butter and almond-rich dough, with the highest quality raw materials. Porat also claims that the prices are not They have grown this year.

Asked why the prices of manna ears today are considered expensive he answers: "There are three reasons. The dough - butter is one of the main raw materials in the preparation of boutique manna dough. The manna ear in the confectionery is made of butter-rich thin dough, which is a significant expensive raw material in relation to fats such as margarine The second reason is the filling of the ganache, which consists of ganache - a sweet cream cooked with expensive fillets like halva, chocolate and cappuccino. A third reason is the work. According to his name, prices are paying in proportion to the quality of the actual product. Crust butter, fillings and manufacturing high quality handmade and machinery ".

If you like manna ears and are just waiting for the holiday to eat them, please note that this is a calorie price. According to Topaz Dresner, a primary weight-loss dietitian, "Haman's ear contains 117-225 calories per unit.

The nutritional value depends on the type of dough and the type of filling. The less dough in sugar and fat, the lower its caloric value and the healthier it can be. The amount of filling in each manna ear is not large, so its effect on the amount of calories is not significant, but the composition of the filling is significant for the health of the human ears. Filling a natural date spread with nuts and cut natural almonds will make the best health contribution. "

As every year, the members of the editorial board have taken on the difficult task of examining the best of Haman's ears. We tasted, tested and rated the best.

Photos: Yehonatan Ben Haim, Boaz Lavie, Bar Ofek, Daniel Lila, Ronen Mangan, Benny Lova, Amir Menachem, Galia Aviram