The taste of מָן (mann, the miraculous food from heaven) is described in our parashah (Shemot 16:31) as כְּצַפִּיחִת בִּדְבָשׁ, which might mean something like “honey cake” or “wafers in honey.” Later in the Torah (Bemidbar 11:8), mann is described as לְשַׁד הַשֶּׁמֶן, meaning something like “oil cake” or “rich cream.”

What did mann really taste like?

According to some midrashim, the answer is: both. Mann was a miraculous food, and it tasted like whatever the person eating it desired. Some people preferred honey cake and others preferred oil cake, so the Torah describes it both ways (Shemot Rabbah 25:3).

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