Cholent
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Cholent (from Eastern European Yiddish טשאָלנט tsholnt) or shalet (from Western European Yiddish שאלעט shalet), a food of Ashkenazi Jews, is a type of stew (or stewing) that has simmered over a very low flame or inside a slow oven (set to a low-heat temperature) or crock pot for many hours (often up to 24 hours or more) before being served on plates or in bowls on Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath). The Sephardi Jews' equivalent of cholent is known as chamin ("hot [food]").
Cholent is usually the hot (meaning "heated") main course of the Shabbat lunch meal served in very traditional Jewish homes, especially among the Orthodox. Cholent is also often served on Shabbat in synagogues at a kiddush celebration after the conclusion of the Shabbat services. It is often served at a bar or bat mitzvah reception on Shabbat or at the celebratory reception following an aufruf on Shabbat when a Jewish groom is called up to the Torah reading on the Shabbat prior to the week during which he will be married.
[edit] Shabbat food
Cholent is not usually eaten on weekdays because it is a food associated with Shabbat for a number of reasons (see below), but ready-made cholent is available in many kosher food stores (and delicatessen) where there are concentrations of traditional Jewish communities. Cholent does not freeze well, so it is most often cooked fresh each week. It is also considered to be too "heavy" compared to other "lighter" foods that are frequently consumed on weekdays, such as dairy products, salads, soups, fish, or chicken.
There is a belief among Sabbath-observant Jews that on Shabbat a person is endowed with an "extra soul" (known as the neshama yeteirah in Hebrew) which manifests itself in an increased capacity to consume more food during the Shabbat meals. Therefore this is an underlying spiritual reason why it is easier to eat more food, quantitavely and qualitavely, such as cholent, kishka, kugel, chopped liver and other "heavy foods" on Shabbat, which one could not do on a regular weekday.
[edit] Etymology of the word
The word cholent is thought by some to be derived from the Old French words chaud meaning "hot" and lent meaning "slow". Others believe it is derived from the Latin calientem;—a term documented with this exact meaning in the Spanish form caliente in the Late Middle Ages. The term chamin is mentioned in the Mishnah Tractate Shabbat (3:1).
[edit] Oneg Shabbat enjoyment and cholent
| "Cholent, beauteous spark immortal, Daughter of Elysium!" Thus would Schiller's song have sung it, Had he ever tasted Cholent. —Heinrich Heine, Princess Sabbath, c. 1850 |
Classical Judaism requires that the Shabbat and Jewish holidays be "honored" in a variety of ways that go beyond the customary prayers and Torah readings in synagogues. It is customary to bathe on Fridays and dress in one's finest clothing in honor of the Shabbat (kavod Shabbat) and to purchase, prepare and eat the best traditional foods that one can afford. Formal festive meals (also known as seudat mitzvah) are an important element of Shabbat and holiday enjoyment.
Included in the notion of oneg Shabbat ("enjoyment [on/of] Shabbat") is the requirement that warm foods be served and eaten and that the dining area be well lit and heated so that Shabbat dining should be a deliberately enjoyable and pleasurable experience for everyone partaking of the meals. This is an important reason why, for example, at the Friday night Shabbat meal hot chicken soup is traditionally served. The eating of a hot and well cooked tasty cholent in particular is the high-point of oneg Shabbat at the main Shabbat lunch meal on late Saturday morning or early afternoon. However, Jewish law stipulates an important proviso, that no kindling of fires or lights or cooking of food may take place on Shabbat itself. Therefore everything in or on the oven or any switches or lights must be already pre-lit, pre-set, pre-cooked and preheated prior to the onset of the arrival of Shabbat's official "candle lighting time" which is approximately eighteen minutes before sunset in whichever geographic area that one lives in and where one therefore practices (or "keeps" or "observes") the Shabbat.
(An exception takes place on certain Jewish holidays that do not occur on the Shabbat when cooking is permitted on a Jewish holiday as long as the oven's fire has been pre-lit from prior to the onset of the Jewish holiday itself. This is derived from Torah law. See also: Eruv for cooking.)
[edit] Historical disputes concerning hot foods on Shabbat
The original rationale for the preparation of cholent prior to the onset of the Jewish Sabbaths -- by some as early as Thursdays and by Friday afternoon at the latest -- stems from the Torah's prohibitions against kindling any type of fire on Shabbat and also forbidding baking/cooking on Shabbat (see 39 categories of activity prohibited on Shabbat.)
According to classical Judaism's Oral Law (as encoded and expressed in the Talmud and Shulkhan Arukh ["Code of Jewish Law"]) this means that one may not light any type of fire for any reason and not bake or cook fresh food on Shabbat itself, but one may keep previously-cooked/baked and prepared food warm if it is placed on a covered fire before dusk on Friday which is the time when Shabbat commences. (In Judaism the onset of a day commences on the prior evening -- unlike the general notion that a new day begins on the prior midnight.)
The Karaites, a group of Jews founded in the early Middle Ages who dismissed the authority of the rabbinical sages and claimed to be following a more stringent interpretation of the Torah, claimed that the Torah prohibits the derivation of any benefit or enjoyment from any fires or lights on Shabbat. The Karaites therefore forbade the enjoyment on Shabbat of anything that is heated or preheated (or preset) even if the lighting, heating or cooking was begun well before the onset of the Shabbat.
The Karaites' observance of laws based on their literalistic readings of the Hebrew Bible convinced many Jews that it is prohibited to derive any benefit from any type of fires on Shabbat whatsoever and it was therefore forbidden to eat any warmed foods on Shabbat, even if the fire was lit prior to Shabbat itself. The Karaites thus ate only cold foods on Shabbat. The Karaites also forbade the lighting of any lights or the use of any heat on Shabbat espousing that it is preferable to sit in the cold and dark and eat cold foods on Shabbat, believing that this is what God commands Jews to do in the Torah.
As an important manifestation of the massive schism between the Karaites and the rabbis (the Karaites referred to followers of the rabbis as Rabbanites), Karaites ate only cold foods on Shabbat whereas those Jews who followed the rabbis who opposed the Karaites made sure that on Shabbat they ate hot foods heated by ovens that had been lit before the onset of Shabbat. During that era, a Jew who deliberately avoided eating hot meals on Shabbat was suspected of being a Karaite and was castigated by the community if it was brought to their attention.
Following the example and admonitions of Rabbi Saadia Gaon (882-942), who was the chief rabbinical leader who opposed the Karaites, Torah observant Jews (essentially all Orthodox Jews and all those who seek to maintain these Jewish traditions) since that time have made it a key minhag ("custom") to deliberately make a point against the Karaites's views by making sure that before Shabbat would begin they would light any sort of candle or lamp for lighting, make sure that there would be heat from an oven (when it is cold) readied before Shabbat, and preparing at least one hot meal prior to Shabbat and keep it warm and simmering for many hours and then eat it at the main Shabbat meal the next day (i.e. Saturday lunch), so as to symbolically distance themselves from what they declared to be the Karaites' mis-interpretations of the Torah which would then openly display personal loyalty to the teachings of the rabbis who opposed the Karaites. So historically it has been cholent, since it is a stew which improves in flavor and taste the longer it is cooked, that became a favorite -- and very important -- Shabbat food.
[edit] Alternatives to meat cholent
For those who may dislike cholent or are unable to eat it for whatever reasons, such as being vegetarian, the custom has been for them to drink warm liquids such as hot tea as part of their Shabbat meals and thereby displaying their loyalty to the rabbis' interpretations of how Shabbat should be practiced. Another alternative is to prepare and cook vegetarian cholents that do not contain any meats or meat derivatives. Beefless cholents have always been eaten by families that could not afford it.
[edit] Recipes for cholents
There is no standard recipe for cholent. Recipes vary according to the geographic areas of Europe in which Jews lived for centuries and in some cases for millennia. The core traditional basic ingredients of cholent usually includes a good proportion of kosher beef (often flanken which requires longer cooking time and softens as it stews) -- or as an alternative meat source: chicken, turkey, veal, or frankfurters -- combined with a variety of fresh vegetables consisting of any one or more of potatoes, onions, any type of or size of beans, barley, and as much water and spices such as salt, pepper, garlic, or anything else that enhances its flavor (see seasoning), that is required to create a stew-like consistency with enough moisture that it will not evaporate as it cooks for a long time. Other vegetables and ingredients such as wheat, carrots, sweet potato, tomatos, tomato sauce, ketchup, honey, dried fruit, paprika, and/or black pepper may be added to the stew before cooking. For additional flavor and a browning effect, either some onions and/or meat are sauteid or fried or a small amount of sugar may be carmelized in oil before adding the rest of the ingredients. Some are known to also add beer or whisky to cholent to add flavor.
One item which is often added is kishka which is also known as stuffed derma. Kishka is a sausage which is stuffed with mashed vegetables (often carrots, potatoes and/or other vegetables), beef fat and spices. Traditionally, kishka was stuffed with intestinal lining from a cow. Today, the casing is often edible sausage casings no different than salami or hot dogs.
The cooking process is then one of simmering and stewing.
[edit] Low-fat recipes
Low-calorie versions of cholent call for tofu and a wider variety of vegetables, while vegetarian recipes eliminate the meat or chicken in favor of more beans and grains. Ashkenazi families may also place a large meat- or vegetarian-based dumpling, known as kishka, inside the pot and atop the stew while it cooks. The kishka absorbs the flavors and provides another side dish for the Shabbat morning meal. In the shtetls of Eastern Europe, families would keep their pots of cholent warm in the large oven of the town baker.
[edit] Sephardi chamin recipes
The Sephardi version of cholent, called chamin (חמין) (from the Hebrew, חם, "hot") calls for whole, stuffed vegetables in addition to meat or chicken. Some Sephardim also have preference for lamb, sheep meat or goat meat. Whole vegetables such as tomatos, green peppers, eggplant halves and zucchini are stuffed with a mixture of beef and rice, and are then placed into the pot with meat or chicken and chickpeas. Sephardim also prefer spices such as cumin, hot peppers and pistachios.
An oriental (Moroccan or Iberian) version called dafeena is a spicier dish which uses garlic, cinnamon, allspice and ginger as well as raw eggs, which turn brown and creamy in the course of the cooking (called guevos haminados in Ladino).
[edit] Cholent in the Yeshiva world
While cholent is popular with many jews worldwide, per-capita consumption is certainly highest among current Yeshiva bochurim (students). In addition to traditionally consuming cholent at the Shabbos afternoon meal, many Yeshiva students also partake in organized Friday Night cholent gatherings to relax and spend time together while enjoying a Shabbos food. Often the cholent is prepared by a member of the group (known as the b'al ha'cholent or cholent master) and accompanied by Divrei Torah (words of Torah), Shabbos zemiros (songs), and various beverages.
Additionally, there is a widespread practice amongst Yeshiva bochurim to consume cholent on Erev Shabbos (the day prior to Shabbos), as it is a Mitzvah to taste the food of Shabbos on Shabbos Eve. Often this is done after the special study session of Thursday night, known as Mishmar, when students study into the late hours of the night. In fact, at Yeshivas Mir, the largest Yeshiva in the world, a local restaurant called Boro Park (after the predominantly Orthodox neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY), stays open until past 3 am Thursday nights serving their famous cholent.
Due to cholent's notorious adhesive qualities, an additional facet of cholent in Yeshiva cultures are contests during which one overturns a plate of cholent until it falls, the winner is the student whose cholent sticks the longest.
Adding to the Yeshiva student's consumption is the widespread availability of cholent leftovers after the Sabbath, which makes a tasty Sunday night dinner. In these places, it is not uncommon to have eaten cholent on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!
[edit] See also
- Braising
- Chamin
- Food and cooking hygiene
- Goulash (very similar to cholent)
- Jewish cuisine
- Kashrut
- Kishka (food)
- Knish
- Kosher foods
- Kreplach
- Kugel
- List of recipes
- Slow cooker (also called a Crock-Pot®)
- Temperature ("Temperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of 'hot' and 'cold'; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter." -- Wikipedia)
[edit] Reference
- Finkel, Sara (1989). Classic Kosher Cooking. Southfield, Michigan: Targum Press Inc. ISBN 0-944070-14-0.
[edit] External links
- chabad.org: Cholent recipe
- cyber-kitchen.com: Cholent recipes
- jewish-food,org: Cholent archives
- myjewishlearning.com: Cholent - The Sabbath Stew
[edit] Slow cookers
- Rival The original and leading producer of Crock Pots and slow cookers.
