Be forewarned: the Cambridge and Oxford societies are cholent enemies down to the (marrow) bone. The Cambridge crew generously directs you to the Oxford site (which, even to the most objective viewer, can't compare to Cambridge's tribute to cholent), but in the same sentence they advise you to first check out their pages: "What's Wrong with the Oxford University 'Choolent' Society." Among their objections: "1. You do not spell cholent like that! 2. "They eat `cholent' during the wqek — real cholent only exists on Shabbat. 3. They have their meetings once a term — if they really love and value cholent then they would eat it every week (on Shabbat, of course) like other . Jews all over the world. 4. "They are elitist (for example, they do not allow any women members, unofficially, of course) whereas our socie- ty is open to all members of the University, and those who are not mem- bers of the University can become exter- nal reps." #22) A few families use veal, and vege- tarians of course go without the meat, but most Ashkenazi families prepare their cholent with beef. Not so Sephardi Jews, who prefer lamb in their cholent, and replace the Ashkenazi favorite of barley with rice. #23) Jews from Syria often use the familiar cholent ingredients of meat, potatoes and onions, but then stuff these into a hollowed-out pumpkin before cooking. #24) And here's another adventure in Shabbat cooking: b. Bukharan cholent. It's called bahsh and it's made with lay- ers of meat, liver and vegetables, then rice and spices all placed in a bag, which is then set in hot water (rather than the water added to and cooked with the ingredients). #25) You can read a fun and fascinating account of how one rabbi, Rabbi J. Hersh}, Worch of Australia, taught resi- dents of Uganda how to make cholent by visiting www.ubalt.edu/k-ulanu Scroll down to Abayudaya and you'll find the listing for "Shabbes Cholent in Uganda?" #26) For many years, Ethiopian Jews have been making their own version of cholent, a spicy lentil-pea stew called wat, which is served atop bread called ingera. This dish can easily be made for Shabbat. If you would like to give it a try: vvww.circus.org/01d9/o2ONACOEJ%20 Site/etfood #27) Rabbis have plenty of insight into Torah — but do they have that edge when it comes to cooking? Find out by visiting WWW. 0 MIC ora/cholent.html Scroll down and you'll find the favorite cholent recipe of Rabbi Daniel Freitag of the Owens Mills Torah Center (it includes barbecue sauce!). Rabbi Freitag welcomes your comments about your success or failure with his cholent. MOVINta rkKts • 12,000 Miles/Year 39 Month Lease • #28) If you're in the mood for some- thing really spicy, you might want to give some favorite Sephardi cholent spices a try: red peppers (the hot kind), coriander and saffron. #29) Though our Constitution champi- ons the right of individual freedoms, some acts must remain, or be made, ille- gal, so as to preserve not only the char- acter of our nation, but its very future. One of these is eating catsup with cholent. If you've never seen this, do what you can to avoid it. It's not a pretty site. And if you are one who actually covers your cholent with that red stuff, stop — and stop now #30) Is cholent the only truly Jewish dish? In Holidays, History and Halakhah (Jason Aronson), University of Calgary Professor Eliezer Segal says that "unlike almost every other one of the victuals that might lay claim to that title, the Jewishness of cholent is not just an acci- dental result of the fact that many Jews happen to eat it, but its very definition is determined by the requirements of Jewish religious law. Cholent was invented by our forefathers and fore- mothers in order to allow them the enjoyment of a steaming hot Sabbath meal without violating the Torah's pro- hibitions against cooking and the kin- dling of fire. To that end, methods were devised of cooking the food before the onset of the holy day and keeping the food heated overnight. "... The immense variety of formulas which ingenious Jewish cooks have . invented to achieve this objective will of course vary with the available ingredi- ents and chanainab tastes ... 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