Beef Stew (Jewish Cholent)

Cholent, "the original slow-cooked dish," has its origins in the prohibition of working - and cooking - on the Jewish Sabbath. In pursuit of a hot lunch on Saturday, a slow-cooked dish was born: One could start the cooking before sundown on Friday and enjoy the food Saturday at lunch. While many people think of cholent as an Eastern European dish, it actually traces its origins back to the Middle East, through North Africa and into Spain. The result is that there are many, many kinds of cholents, including the Iraqi tbit, made with chicken, Moroccan lamb stew, and a beef, vegetables, and bean version from Budapest. Sometimes a super-simple family recipe, though, is all you need. Cholent (known as hamin or dafina or a variety of other names in the Sephardi kitchen) is a slow-cooked, flavourful stew-type dish served at the Shabbat lunch meal in traditional Jewish communities. Because igniting a flame and scratch-cooking is not allowed on Shabbat, cholent is pre-cooked and put in the oven or on a “blech” (a piece of tin covering a gas flame on the stove top) before the start of Shabbat and left to simmer all night. Years ago in Europe - and not too long ago in Israel - cholent pots were left overnight in the local baker’s oven; today, as often as not, they are made in crock pots or spend the night in the oven or on an electric Shabbat warming tray. The aroma just can’t be beat. There are as many kinds of cholent as there are Jews hailing from different ethnic backgrounds. But usually, cholent contains some combination of beef or chicken, potatoes, rice or whole wheat berries, and beans or chick peas. Ashkenazi cholent often contains kishke or helzel - a sausage casing or a chicken neck skin stuffed with a flour-based mixture. Sephardi cholents are often spiced with combinations of turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon, while Ashkenazis usually prefer salt, pepper, paprika and garlic. Many Sephardim will add hue­vos haminados - whole eggs in the shell that develop a creamy texture and turn brown overnight. Whatever kind you choose, don’t forget that a Shabbat nap is de rigueur following a cholent meal. It’s distinctly a taste of the world to come.

1 large onion, left whole
1½ cups small white beans
½ cup pearl barley
4-5 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut in eighths
4-5 strips of short ribs, cut up
kosher salt
black pepper, freshly ground

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Place onion, beans, barley and potatoes in the bottom of a heavy pot. Add short ribs and enough water JUST to cover.

Season with salt and pepper. Bring cholent to a boil, cover with lid and then place in the preheated oven overnight. I normally cook this for 12-14 hours. DO NOT STIR.