Cholent is a food that at first seems like a simple Jewish chili.
Don’t be fooled.
Cholent is customarily eaten by Shabbat-observant Jews at lunch on Saturday. It is such a powerful food that its mention will evoke groans, giggles, rapid salivation, the urgent need to take a nap, and the motivation to break a diet or vegan streak.
When it is eaten may be broken down by who you are: classically by yeshiva guys, in anticipation of Shabbat, anytime from Thursday night forward; by semi-normal people AFTER dessert following Shabbat dinner Friday night; by normal folk at lunch; and by hungry carnivorous husbands, as leftovers anytime from Shabbat on through Thursday of the next week.
It appears in different varieties, depending if a Jew’s genealogy stems from Germany, Poland, Italy, Morocco or what-have-you.
OK – here are some FAQ’s.
Q. Why do Jews eat cholent?
A. Years ago back in the day there was a group of Jews known as the Karaites. They had a philosophical belief that the Oral Law was not divine, but that the Written Law was divine. Well, the Written Law states, “Do not burn a fire in your homes on Shabbat.” The Oral Law explains: don’t ignite it, but you can have it burning from before Shabbat. The Karaites observed Shabbat by sitting in a cold, dark home and eating cold food. The Jews that believed in the Oral Law developed a custom to eat a food, that had been simmering from before Shabbat to emphasize that according to the Oral Law, this is how God wants us to both observe and celebrate Shabbat (which are not the same thing, btw).
Q. What on earth does “cholent” mean?
A. Some say it comes from chaud (“hot”) and lent (“slow”), expressing the point of cholent: that it be hot, and been cooking since Friday.
Q. What are some other things you can tell us about cholent??
A.
- It’s the ultimate comfort food. When I smell it, I am brought back in time to the many, many Shabbos meals I’ve experienced in my life. When I wake up Shabbos morning and smell it cooking, all seems right with the world. If Shabbos had a smell, it would be the cholent simmering away.
- Many conversations center around it: did it come out watery or more stew-like, spicy or savory, did my husband throw in some jalapeno sauce when no one was looking?
- “They say” the cholent depends on the guests… if the guest are good, the cholent will be good. I doubt this is true, but it makes for excellent conversation (when the guests compliment the cholent, that is).
- Babies LOVE it. It’s mushy and savory. They can put the hungriest teenage boy to shame in a cholent-off.
I love cholent. I don't eat it all that often, mostly because I don't currently own a crockpot, but I used to make it when I lived in Japan and did have a crockpot, and it's great stuff. Especially in the winter; Japanese homes often don't have central heating, so it gets cold. I'd put all the stuff in the crockpot the night before, sometimes mid-week, and it was the greatest feeling to come in and smell the cholent, simmering away, after a day at work. It's definitely comfort food.
Japan – cool! What brought you there?
I taught English there for a couple of years right after college. It was a good experience, except for their propensity to try and stick pork and/or shellfish in almost everything (at least, that's what it seemed like at the time). I'm in China now, and it doesn't feel so hard here. Or maybe I'm just better at dealing with it!
I think when the weather cools off a bit more I'll have to invest in a crockpot and start making cholent. It feels like it's been forever since I had it. I did just get baking pans and stuff in the mail (thank you, Amazon) so that I can resume my challah-baking activities. I'm sure that by the time I get my act together here, it'll be time to move again. Heh.
Thanks for sharing your chulent recipe! If you could do some more recipe posts (like for other Shabat foods) that would be awesome. 🙂
it's the KETCHUP! that's what I liked about your cholent it had a sweetness to it from the ketchup! I can no longer eat gluten, so I now sub quinoa for the barley (although MAN I miss barley. a lot.) I also put carrots instead of potatoes (for the sweetness), and I sneak a "glug" of red wine in there and some garlic. And if I have leftover chicken soup or gravy from the week I stick it in there too.
When I was first exposed to cholent, it was made by some bachelors and it was disgusting. I didn't eat it again for the next 10 years. Thank G-d for you and your husband who introduced me to absolutely delicious cholent!!!! Now I love it.
Favorite thing about cholent is that it's well-nigh impossible to mess up. I never use a recipe. (I did for the first year I was married.) I just dump various combinations, which change from week to week based on which beans I have, which vegetables I have, which meat I have, etc… I don't think I've ever made a cholent that my husband or I wouldn't eat. It's certainly not my stellar cooking…desserts and side dishes have gone in the trash in my cooking career. But such is the magic of cholent.
I apologize for being picky. Blame it on my yekkie blood if you like. But I have to point out the decree requiring hot food on Shabbat was a reaction to the Saduccees, not the Kararites. Karaism didn't even start until 770 CE or so. The OU also seems to support this interpretation.
Cholent, kugel and rugelach and I am a happy Shabbat-er.
I second the suggestion for more recipe posts!
Just FYI: I make my chulent in a 9×13 deep aluminum pan every week, no pot involved at all. Just put the ingredients in and stick in the oven on 350 for a few hours then turn down to 200 for Shabbos. Tastes just as yummy as(maybe even yummier than) crock pot. Best part: no clean-up!
In our house (or apartment…) we eat cholent only in the winter – I find it too heavy in the summer so we stick to deli, chicken fingers (baked using rice krispries!) or shnitzel (also baked, using the flavoured corn crumbs) as our main. My husband and I have a very happy agreement – neither of us like beans in cholent! Here's my recipe:
1 large white onion (left whole because I like the flavour and hubby hates onion pieces)
1 large sweet potato, cubed
2 white potatoes (I like the red skinned ones), cubed
1 package stewing meat (comes cubed)
1-2 carrots, diced
a handful of mushrooms, quartered (optional, I sometimes skip this )
1/2 cup barley (soaked then strained for about 20 minutes in boiling hot water – I use the kettle)
1/4 cup or so bbq sauce
a pinch of garlic powder and paprika
Enough gingerale to cover I usually put in a bit of water too. Beer works well too!
My family just discovered a new cholent option this past week…tacos! You brown the beef ahead of time with the taco seasoning, and the throw it in the crock pot before shabbos with a little extra water. Serve Shabbos day in taco shells.
Tradititioal it's not, but it's a nice way to mix things up for those of us who get tired of serving the same thing week in and week out. It's also a nice entree into the world of hot food on shabbos day for people who don't do mushy 🙂
Sarah and mikvahbound, good idea! I think i will!
Leah, and now you know all my secrets!! A glug of red wine, love that!
Amy, I agree – challah dough and cholent are very forgiving.
Larry, thanks for the input – if indeed you are a yekkie, is your cholent a "grinken zup"?
Ranya, awesome tip!!
Hilary, its funny you omit the beans and Leah omits the barley -ive experimented with omitting the meat, and one local caterer omits the potatoes! I guess cholent has that je ne sais qua no matter what's in it – or not. Beer and Ginger ale … fascinating!
Anonymous, as long as its hot and slow, it's chaud -lent! Enjoy!
HOMER SIMPSON ADAS ISRAEL CHOLENT CHAMP CHOLENT RECIPE
by Andrea Levy of Hamilton, ON.
No measurements, because ultimately, you don't really need them, but i have a 5 liter crock pot and this makes about half that volume.
Meat- use rib meat, ideally the rib from between the bones, but if not, any other variation on rib will do. Also, if you can ask your butcher for plate beef, that is a great cut of meat to use.
Kishka- Around here, in Hamilton Ontario, we have really good hand made kishka at our local butcher as well as the kosher sobey's in thornhill. the kishka will not make or break your cholent but the better it is, the better the cholent is. I usually use a piece.
Lamb- nice to use if you can get it. Shank is ideal. Not nuts about stewing lamb because the bones get sort of crunchy and to me, not in a pleasant way. ok to use a second cut chop and cut off the bone. Its just for the flavour.
BEER- really, any kind will do. I use one at home in my crock pot and just last weekend used 12 in a cholent for 300 at shul. does not really matte what kind. i like cheap and cheerful. i don't drink beer but love to cook with it.
cut up onions, potatoes and carrots. or use a package of baby carrots, parisienne potatoes and skip the onions. DO NOT USE potatoes with skin.
Onion Soup Mix- for my crock pot, three heaping tablespoons. for my shul cholent, most of two osem plastic onion soup containers.
Barley – for my crock pot, half a bag of pearl barley. for shul amounts, i used 4 bags over two pots.
i like eggs in cholent but if you do it, my suggestion would be to put them in boiled and peeled already and to put them in so they are covered by liquid. Barley also needs to be covered all the way. the traditional way is to leave them in the shells, but to me that always spells trouble. inevitably, one or two break and we end up getting shell in the cholent. hence the already peeled.
throw it all in a pot with no prep work. add water to cover
this is a no bean recipe
mmmm, fat and beer.
VEGETARIAN CHOLENT
Choose a vegetarian stew or soup that you think tastes good. then adjust it into a cholent pot. You will likely need a little more water. Or a little less, if it is a soup. my fave is mushroom barley soup recipe from moosewood adapted into a veg cholent. the thing about veg cholent is that if it is just cholent without the meat, it does not taste as good as a recipe that was supposed to be vegetarian in the first place. At least that is my experience. b' taiavon!
In order to keep the chain of evidence intact I will just post a link to my version of Sweet 16 cholent.
I make a summertime cholent with chicken thighs and mangos. Has anyone found a way to keep boneless skinnless breasts from being ruined when they are slow cooking overnight?
Also, how many people fully cook their cholent on Fridays before sundown, how many start the cholent just barely before candlelighting, and how many get it 1/3 to 1/2 cooked by sundown?
Larry, I would cook the chicken cholent on the lowest possible heat for it to not fall to mush. also using a frozen turkey thigh is good. I tend to start my cholents later in the day.
the key here is that boiling is 212 F. if you want to make sure the chicken is less cooked, the lower below 212 you go, the less cooked it will be. that said, chicken is usually ready at lower temperatures, i think it is around 170. if your oven goes that low, cook the cholent till the chicken is edible and then put it on 180 or so in a foil pan or a creuset until the next day. I have a friend who makes his cholents as stew but then keeps them warm on the cooler part of his blech. that makes me nervous because you need to ensure the temperature does not fall low enough that you could get food poisoning. that is why i prefer to set my oven just above the 'danger zone' and go from there. It wont boil, but it wont cook as much either so make sure it is cooked through before you start it- barley included.
The danger zone for food is between 40 and 140 degrees, and most regular ovens (I don't have any experience with fancy brands) lowest temp is somewhere around 170– which is the perfect temp for chicken thighs, but can be a smidge drying for chicken breasts, which are cooked through at 160. However, kosher birds always act a little like they've been brined, so retain some moisture a bit longer (if you're using the IQF- individually quick frozen- chicken breasts, I find them more dry than a whole bird, so I might brine them for an hour or so before cooking, Larry). Just cook them on the lowest possible temperature, as long as it's above 140 F.
I've never made a chulent in my life! My husband makes the cholent and is very proud of it, too. It's amazing to listen to yeshiva guys discuss their cholent recipes and the importance of the proper bean to barley ratio and the nuances of scoring a chulent based on two facets: taste and texture.
For our chulent, he uses no beans (for me – I hate beans – and my son, who's allergic to them) and onion soup mix is key.
I'm surprised there's no mention of marrow bones – or is that a separate post?