Schalet is the food of heaven,
Which the Lord Himself taught Moses
How to cook, when on that visit
To the summit of Mount Sinai…
Schalet is the pure ambrosia
That the food of heaven composes—
Is the bread of Paradise;
And compared with food so glorious…
From the poem Princess Sabbath by Heinrich Heine,
translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring
Since Biblical times the Jewish people have scattered and settled all over the globe, adapting their foods to suit the regions where they’ve settled. Over the centuries countless regional ethnic dishes have been made kosher to fit the Jewish religious standards for pure eating. This means that “Jewish food” is really world cuisine; there are very few dishes that are uniquely Jewish. Bagels? A Polish baked bread originally created for Lent and later embraced by the Jews. Gefilte fish? A German dish adopted by Yiddish cooks. But cholent– well, cholent is one of the few foods that is totally and completely Jewish.
In Joan Nathan’s fabulous book Jewish Cooking in America, she writes about this distinction:
“Throughout their wandering history, Jews have adapted their life-styles to the local culture. Food is no exception. Following the same dietary laws, Jews, relying on local ingredients, developed regional flavors. Because they have lived in so many places, there is no ‘Jewish food’ other than matzah; haroset (the Passover spread); or cholent or chamim (the Sabbath stews that surface in different forms in every land where Jews have lived).”
Cholent is uniquely Jewish. It was created because Jewish law does not permit cooking on Shabbat. To adhere to this prohibition, Jewish cooks began to create meat and bean stews in heavy pots that would slowly simmer inside a low-heat oven overnight. They would prepare the stew on Friday before sundown, cook it partially, and place it into the oven to continue cooking throughout the night. That way, there would be no need to kindle a fire or light a stove during the hours of Shabbat; they would simple remove the stew from the oven at mealtime and it would be fully cooked and ready to serve.
According the The New Jewish Holiday Cookbook by Gloria Kaufer Greene, the word cholent may have come into usage in medieval Europe:
“The medieval word cholent (with ‘ch’ pronounced as in ‘chair’) may have come from the French chaud-lent, meaning ‘warm slowly,’ or, less likely, from the Yiddish shul ende which describes when the cholent is eaten — at ‘synagogue end.'”
My friend, food historian Gil Marks, refutes this notion of shul ende being the root of the word, because the word cholent was used in France before Yiddish developed as a language in the mid 1200’s. In his Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, he contends that the word most likely evolved from the French chaud (hot) or from the Spanish escallento (warm), since the dish probably made its way to France from Spain. Still others believe that the word cholent is derived from the Hebrew she’lan, meaning “that rested” and referring to the pot resting in the oven overnight.
While nobody knows the exact source of the word cholent, it is without a doubt one of the most beloved dishes in Jewish cuisine.
A Cholent By Any Other Name
Shabbat stews are cooked all over the world in different ways and under many different names. Here are a few of the many varieties of cholent:
Schalet – The Yiddish word for cholent, referred to in the German poem at the beginning of this blog. Schalet refers to an Eastern European-style cholent with meat, beans, barley, and sometimes kishke. Spicing is minimal; often only salt and pepper are used.
Hamin/Hamim/Chamim/Chamin – From the Hebrew word “hot.” The Sephardic version of cholent is known as hamin. Popular throughout Israel, hamin is often made with chicken rather than meat and usually contains eggs. It is also spiced more exotically than Eastern European cholent.
Dafina & Skhina – In Spain, the Maghreb, and Morocco, cholent is referred to as dafina or skhina. It is generally cooked with chickpeas, meat, potatoes and eggs along with spices native to the Maghreb.
Osh Savo – A sweet and sour Shabbat rice stew served by Bukharan Jews.
Tabeet & Pacha – Iraqi Jews have two popular Shabbat dishes. Tabeet is made with a whole chicken stuffed with rice, herbs, and seasonings. Pacha is tripe stuffed with lamb, seasonings, and rose petals. Both are slowly cooked overnight for Shabbat, which makes them regional ethnic variations on the cholent theme.
Batia Restaurant in Tel Aviv
On a trip to Israel in the summer of 2010, our friend Hagai brought me to a restaurant called Batia in Tel Aviv. It’s a traditional Ashkenazi restaurant, well known for their cholent. While there I met the manager, Miri. She gave me a tour of their kitchen and I got to snap a shot of their massive cholent pot, which is the size of about twelve normal cholent pots. Check it out:
Miri told me that even with all of this cholent, they never fail to run out towards the end of the day. It is absolutely delicious. Their cholent is made in the Israeli style with eggs, similar to mine but with less spices. They also add a kishke to their cholent and sliced meat if you ask for it.
Cholent: A Family Affair
Tamar Genger from the website Joy of Kosher talked about the warm memories and feelings that a pot of cholent can conjure. “People have an emotional response to the word ‘cholent’ — it may be a memory of a meal at a grandparents house, kiddush after shul or that unmistakable smell that warms the entire home on a cold winter morning.” I totally relate to this emotional response, even though I didn’t grow up eating cholent. For the past decade, cholent has made a regular appearance on our Shabbat table. During the winter, it doesn’t feel like Shabbat unless a pot of cholent is slowly cooking in the oven, filling the house with its tantalizing, savory aroma. Cholent and challah are the official flavors of Shabbat in our home.
Cholent recipes vary greatly from region to region, and even from family to family. No two cholent recipes are exactly alike. It’s one of those dishes that evolves over generations, with spices and ingredients being added or changed to suit family tastes. Some cholent recipes have a hint of sweetness in them from the addition of honey or ketchup. Our family prefers a savory cholent, the recipe for which appears below. Ashkenazi cholent recipes sometimes include kishke, or stuffed derma, which is a particularly unique Jewish delicacy. We never include a kishke, but you could certainly buy a kishke and add it to the pot. Couldn’t hurt!
Our family’s cholent recipe is a reflection of the heritage of my fiance’s parents; his mother was Sephardic, his father Ashkenazi. The dish uses the basic ingredients of an Ashkenazi cholent– meat, beans, potatoes, and sometimes barley or kasha– with added Sephardic spices for flavor. We also add whole eggs to the pot, another Sephardic custom. The eggs slowly cook in the broth, soaking up the flavor of the cholent and turning a lovely brown color. I sometimes use chickpeas, as is the custom in Moroccan dafina. Other times, I use a combination of kidney, pinto, and lima beans, which are more often used in Ashkenazi cholent. It just depends on what we have in the pantry on Friday. I use red potatoes because they have a lower starch content, so they won’t dissolve during the long slow cooking process. When we want a lighter cholent, I leave out the barley grains and let the potatoes take starchy center stage. Cholent is flexible that way. The result of combining all of these different flavors is an irresistible savory cholent that is always a hit on Shabbat.
Over the years I’ve refined this cholent recipe. I used to overnight soak the beans, pre-boil the ingredients and often cooked it in the oven. Now I always use a slow cooker, and I only give the beans a quick soak. If I’m in a hurry I skip the soak entirely– the quick soaked beans are easier on digestion, but the slow cooking process will fully cook the raw beans. Remember, this dish cooks overnight, which requires some forethought. The traditional way is to start the cooking on Friday before sundown so that the pot is cooking before Shabbat begins. Enjoy!
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Cholent
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds large red potatoes, peeled and halved (for a smaller slow cooker, use 2 lbs)
- 2 whole onions, chopped
- 2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat or brisket, cut into chunks (for a smaller slow cooker, use 2 lbs)
- 2 marrow bones
- 1 cup dried beans - lima, pinto, chickpeas, red beans (not kidney), or a mixture
- 1/2 cup pearl barley or coarse-grain kasha (optional - for gluten free, do not use pearl barley)
- 3 whole garlic cloves
- 6 eggs (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (if spice sensitive use 1/4 tsp)
- 1 quart low sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (if spice sensitive use just a pinch)
- 1 kishke (optional - we never add this, but many families like it)
- Water (varies)
NOTES
Instructions
- In a large slow cooker (the larger the better!), place the potatoes in a single layer on the bottom of the cooking vessel.
- Sprinkle the onions over the potatoes.
- Place the beef in a single layer on top of the onions and potatoes. Place the two marrow bones in the meat. If you're adding a kishke, now would be the time to put it in the cooker.
- Rinse the beans clean, checking for any stones or impurities. If using barley or kasha, do the same with the grains. Sprinkle the beans (raw or pre-soaked) and optional grains over the top of the meat. Place the three whole garlic cloves into the meat, evenly spaced. Sprinkle the whole mixture with the black pepper.
- If using eggs, rinse them well and then tuck them into the meat. In a 4-cup container, whisk together the low sodium chicken broth, kosher salt, paprika, turmeric, cumin and cayenne.
- Pour the liquid over the cholent. Add additional water until all of the beans and pieces of meat are covered. For us, it's usually another 1-2 cups of water in our slow cooker-- it will vary; I usually add a bit more liquid if using grains, because they will soak it up.
- Cover the slow cooker. Cook on low heat for 16 hours. Check occasionally as it's cooking; add additional water and stir a bit if it's looking too dry. Most cookers will auto-switch to warm when the cooking is complete. If yours doesn’t, set it to warm until ready to serve.
- It will look a bit medieval when it's done cooking! Don't worry, just dig in and you'll see that it's perfectly cooked below the surface. Peel the eggs before serving the cholent.
- To cook this recipe in the oven, layer the ingredients in a large heavy 7-8 quart Dutch oven. Make sure you have enough liquid to just cover all ingredients. Cover with lid and cook cholent at 200 degrees F for 12-16 hours.
Ome says
It’s a miracle. So delicious. Thanks for sharing this.
Kara says
I have made this recipe 3 times. Once with beef and it was delicious. The other 2 times with pieces of dark meat chicken (no skin, no bones) and it was still delicious!!!
Marilyn BM Horne says
Excellent recipe. I do Cholent in a very similar fashion. Once in a while I will use some brown or white rice instead of beans. Thanks for sharing. Cholent is so interesting. Many different ways of making it. This recipe is the real basic one and can be embellished more or less.
Thomas says
No kidney beans… My favorite all time bean. What gives?
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Thomas, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Research has shown that you should not cook kidney beans in the slow cooker, which is why we chose to leave them out of this recipe. You can find more info on why at this link: https://toriavey.com/how-to/how-to-cook-soak-and-freeze-dried-red-kidney-beans/
Anna Vaysberg says
HI- Can I make this in a pot on the stovetop?
Tori Avey says
Hi Anna, yes you can. Use a heavy pot, and simmer on very low heat.
Naomi says
HI Anna,
My mother used to place the pot on a 1 inch brick or concrete slab on the stove – to make sure that the heat is equal all the way through the base.
Mitchell Karp says
This will be the first time I am making cholent. It was recommended to me to use navel pastrami as the meat ingredient. I was told it gives the cholent a delicious flavor. Have you ever heard of this?
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Mitchell, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. We have not made it this way, but it sounds interesting! Let us know how it turns out if you give it a try. 🙂
shimshon says
navel pastrami is the fatty end of the brisket ,so its perfect for cholent ,the fat content is higher ,so that you can leave out the bone marrow
Ben says
This is a fantastic recipe. I wanted to share 2 little tricks from my Lithuanian grandmother which can be added to any of the one million cholent recipes out there. These are really just color enhancements but add a nice touch. First step is to caramelize a small amount of sugar in the bottom of your pot before layering ingredients (not really enough to taste, but adds a wonderful color) and the second trick is to leave your onion skins on the very top of the pot in the cooking liquid for the duration of the cook–remove them at the end before serving. Again, the onion skins simply impart some additional wonderful color.
Mitchell Karp says
Nice. Thanks for sharing.
Elizabeth says
Ben, I leave the onion skins on when I make chicken soup, and take them out at the end.
Ann Lalo says
Hi Tori,
If I want to make your cholent, but with Ashkenazi spices instead of Sephardic, is it okay to eliminate the tumeric and cumin?
Thank you,
Ann
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Ann, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. I think it would be fine to leave out those spices if you prefer.
Gail says
I’m making this right now and after 8.5 hours I tasted it and it tastes done to me. Is that possible? The meat is falling off the bone tender and the beans and veggies are all super soft. Is it possible to overcook if I keep cooking? I wonder if maybe my slow cooker runs hot? I can hear it boiling.
Tori Avey says
If it tastes done, it’s done! Slow cookers can vary in terms of cook speed, some run hotter than others. If yours is boiling it either runs hotter or it’s not on the low setting. Either way, if the meat is that tender it is definitely done. 🙂 Enjoy!
shimshon says
you can definitely over cook it ,it will eventually loose all texture and turn into a gloppy mess.but 8 hours is the average cooking time for a cholent ,i would suggest cooking it 3 to four hours on the stove or your hot cooker then just before shabbos use a hot plate .
Sue Allred says
Delicious! Served this to 18 twenty year olds and we all loved it! We all even loved the eggs. I will use this recipe often. I didn’t get the marrow bones, it was still great.
Callie Fisher says
Hello! I don’t want to assume anything – and I have read all the comments and can’t find the answer – are they RAW eggs?
Thank you,
Callie
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Callie, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. The eggs are raw (in the shell) to start, but are fully cooked by the end of the cooking process. You peel them before serving.
Corinna Pulatie says
Hey Tori! My hubby and I are Christians and are beginning to observe some Jewish traditions in an effort to feel a connection to the foundations of our religion 🙂 all that to say, my first Cholent is done cooking, waiting for us to eat dinner in a couple of hours! We’re so excited to observe the Sabbath and eat our very first Sabbath meal! (Situations arose that prevents us from observing the Sabbath on friday/Saturday this week.) Thanks so much for this awesome recipe and all the other information found on your website!
Tori Avey says
Very cool Corinna! Hope you enjoyed the cholent. 🙂
Deirdre Stein says
Wow!!! so nice to hear that you are embracing the religion. Mazel tov!!
Barbara says
10 Tori. I’ll never use another recipe again besides this one. Out of this world.
Mirit Volis says
I used portions of this recipe with one given to me by my friend from Israel. I am still working on figuring out the timing with the slow cooker since I cover it in towels but the flavors are fantastic and the smell in the house on Saturday morning is to die for. A signal the weekend is here. Next time I will try it your way only and see what happens. My husband thinks the eggs are weird and laughs and anyone who wants to try them but that just means there is more for me 🙂
I paired this with roasted butternut squash (olive oil, moroccan seasoning, salt, pepper, and some red pepper flakes to break up the sweetness) and it was wonderful.
Ilanit says
Making this recipe as we speak! Added a spoonful of honey and a dash of cinnamon to it and it looks promising!
My question is what can I do if there is more liquid than i’d like? Do I uncover and cook on high for a while? If so, how long?
Tori Avey says
You can simply drain off excess liquid, if you are towards the end of the cooking process. Enjoy!
Jill says
Fantastic recipe! We made this cholent for the first time for this Shabbat, and it was so delicious. Definitely going to make this a tradition in our home. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Leza Dieli says
Just made it and it came out unbelievable. So happy i went with this recipe. Absolutely nothing needs to be edited.
Chana says
I’m so excited to make this for Shabbat this week! I just wanted to know if instead of adding the chicken broth can I just add enough water to cover all the ingredients? I don’t have chicken broth. Thanks!
Tori Avey says
Yes, that’s fine. The chicken broth just adds another layer of savory flavor. 🙂 Enjoy!
Mirele says
Hi Tori,
Looks delicious! I’ll be making this for Shabbat dinner this Friday and can’t wait to see how it comes out!
A quick question: If I start the crockpot Thursday night, then the cholent will be done cooking Friday afternoon, which is still about 6 hours before dinnertime. But if I start cooking it Friday morning, it’ll only have 10-12 hours in the crockpot as opposed to the 16 you recommend.
Any suggestions on which is the safer bet? I don’t want it to dry out by cooking it too early, but I certainly don’t want it to be undercooked either.
ashley says
Hi Mirele, Tori’s assistant Ashley here! I would suggest making the cholent Thursday night and then setting your crockpot to the lowest setting, just to keep it warm, until you are ready to serve.
Liz says
I’m really excited to make this recipe but I only have a 4 quart slow cooker, is it possible to half this recipe or amend it somehow to meet that size? Thanks for your help
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi Liz, Tori’s assistant Ashley here! Halving this recipe should be fine, just be sure to keep an eye on the liquid level after the broth is added. You want to make sure there is enough to cover the beans and the meat and even a bit more if you’re adding grains. Hope this helps!
Anne Lise Kruse says
Hii.
I just made a big pot of this wonderful food.
I’m Danish and maybe you wrote somewhere on this page,, and I overlooked,,, but
I wonder if it’s possible to freeze the leftovers. Th. U. Anne Lise Kruse.
Ashley at ToriAvey.com says
Hi, Tori’s assistant Ashley here! You can freeze the leftovers, however the vegetables may be a bit softer or broken after thawing.