[Sca-cooks] Cholent

[Ariane H]

zkessin at cs.brandeis.edu wrote:

>Does anyone have a period recipe for some form of a Cholent (Shabbeth
>stew) or something that could work as such? Jewish law says that you can't
>cook on Shabbos, so you prepare a stew on friday and let it sit on a
>banked fire overnight to eat for lunch the next day (Ok we will be using a
>crock pot). so does anyone have any sugestions for a period recipe that
>might work for this? It will have to be kosher of course, but we can
>always play with things to make it kosher.
>  
>

There's a great recipe in the Baghdadi cookbook (13th c.) for a sort of 
porridge that cooks overnight.

"Tannuriya.  (This is best when made with lamb or veal.)  Take 5 ratls 
of meat, and cut into middling pieces: wash, and throw into the 
saucepan.  Cover with water, add a little salt and cinnaon-bark, and 
boil, skimming.  Throw in dry coriander.  Take 2 ratls of fresh wheat, 
shelled, cleaned and ground: wash, and throw into the pot, adding a few 
sprigns of dill, and salt to taste.  Cover.  Fill with water, leaving a 
space of four fingers, and put into the oven until the following 
morning.  Then remove: place under it breadcrumbs, sprinkled with 
fine-brayed cumin and cinnamon, and serve."

It's really easy and came out pretty well, after being left in the oven 
on very low heat (about 225 degrees F) for about 8 hours overnight.  The 
only change I made to the recipe was using dried wheat kernels since I 
couldn't get fresh ones, but I soaked them for the whole day before I 
put the dish together.  I ground it very briefly in a food processor, so 
it was still quite coarse and had a good texture.  If you can get coarse 
bulgur wheat, that might also work.

I made a sort of Italianate version of this recipe another time, with 
whole spelt and barley, and I used garlic, thyme and oregano instead of 
dill, cinnamon and cumin.  That one I did in the crock pot and it came 
out well too.


hope that helps,
Vittoria