Cholent
From my late mother’s The Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden, the cookbook writer and cultural anthropologist
Claudia Roden’s recipe is based on one by Shmulik and his wife Carmela, of Shmulik Cohen Restaurant, which has neither changed its location or menu since it was founded in 1936 by Shmulik’s grandfather.
1kg (2lb) fatty beef – brisket, breast or rib
2 large onion sliced
Marrow bones
1kg (2lb) peeled potatoes, whole if small, halved if big
100g (4oz) pearl barley (optional)
250g haricot or butter beans, soaked for one hour (or already cooked)
Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and add whole peeled garlic cloves and a peck of dried chilli.
In a large pot or casserole with a tightly fitted lid, brown the meat (in its own fat or in a tablespoon of oil). Remove it, and fry onions till soft. Return the meat to the pot, add the marrow bones, potatoes, barley and beans around it, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Cover with water and bring to the boil. Remove the scum with a large metal spoon, then put the lid on and leave in the lowest oven (225F, 110C, gas 1/4) overnight.
Real Food Lover 
Mmm looks mouth-wateringly delicious…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Geraldine! It is an amazing dish and I especially love the strengthening, healing and unctuous broth thickened with haricot beans and potatoes.
LikeLike
I loved this recipe but wonder if it needs to be in the oven? Can it be on the stovetop as well?
LikeLike
Hi Philippa, you could certainly do it on the stove, but the advantage of doing it in the oven is you can use a very low light and leave the pot/casserole unattended. If it is on the stove, you have to check it every half an hour or so to make sure the water has not boiled away.
LikeLike
Wow, what serendipity this evening! So, for the last few days I’ve been obsessing about Jewish food. It started with Jay Rayner’s article about “The Book of Jewish Food” from which this recipe is taken, continued into some correspondence with Mr Rayner and moved on to me getting a recipe for Lilly Wexper’s Famous Cheesecake [ https://nomadsi.net/blog/ ] from her daughter Jill. All this and conversations with my London Jewish cousins reminiscing about my Grandma’s cooking put me in mind of “Cholent”. So I googled… this page comes up top of the list. I look around and on the header bar I see About Elisabeth Winkler, click and there you are. Last seen – face to face – on our barge Luca in Bristol Harbour. I’m writing to you now from our other barge – we retired to boats – in Lacroix sur Meuse in Lorraine, France, where we are waiting for the Spring, to move south. Viruses, floods etc. not withstanding. I will try this recipe, we have a very slow stove on the barge which I think will be ideal for the overnight cooking required for this traditional sabbath dish. My Grandma used butter beans and sliced the potatoes, rather like in a Lancashire hot-pot – if memory serves – and it was a thing of wonder to eat.
Hoping this finds you hale and hearty in these trying times. But at least we can walk, cook and eat. Simon x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Simon, how lovely to hear from you!
I like the sound of boats and Lorraine and escape from the plague.
I also like the sound of cholent with butter beans and sliced potatoes….
Funnily I am just right this moment making a cheesecake. I will check out your recipe, pronto.
Elisabeth x
LikeLike