The Pot Runneth Over
Young Israel of Southfield selects an award-winning cholent.
ANNABEL COHEN
Special to the Jewish News
W
hat happens when you get 12 Jewish
cooks together in one kitchen? A cou-
ple of weekends ago, you got cholent,
the ubiquitous feast in a pot, traditionally served
as the Shabbat lunch.
An idea brought back from Ann Arbor by
University of Michigan student Nathan Gonik
and sponsored by the Young Israel of Southfield
Sisterhood (YISS), the first annual Cholent
Cook-Off at the synagogue was an outright suc-
cess. On Shabbat,140 hungry worshippers tasted
and voted for the cholent they liked best.
The contest was chaired by Ella Modell and
Linda Lefkowitz, and 11 cholents were prepared.
Each cook, dressed in white toques and aprons
adorned with the words "YISS the cook," vied
for the coveted "Cholent Cup" trophy.
Back up to a couple of days before the contest.
Under rabbinical supervision, a dozen cooks —
most using recipes they know by heart —
chopped, mixed and slow-cooked their favorite
cholent recipes as part of a Young Israel fund-
raising lunch. Each cholent had it's own clever
moniker, from Brenda Pieczenik's "Mamarifik" (a
vegetarian cholent), to Michal Korman's
"Galazan Moroccan Cholent," to "Three
Stewges," a hot dog and chili cholent concocted
by Ken Rich and teenager Moshe (Moe)
Rothstein.
"Every cholent's different," said Gonik. "And
most people rally around their own family's
cholent. `Gonik's Surprise' was a new, first-time
concoction. I've been working on it with my
mother, Cookie Gonik."
Cholent Cup winner Eric Grossman, a teacher
at the Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit,
entered the contest because it sounded like fun.
"I cook cholent for my students and for the
Yiddish club at the school," said Grossman. "I'm
the cholent cooker in the family. My wife is a far
better cook than I am, but cholent is my
domain.
"The shul is filled with excellent cooks," he
said, "but I did have a secret weapon — Perl's
kishka from Toronto. The kishka takes you back
Devorah Rich of Southfield checks her cholent.
to the old country, whatever old country you
happen to be from. I've been perfecting my
"Plain Cholent." "Everybodys always said my cholent
recipe over the past 13 years and finally got it right
was very good," said Chelst. "My husband's family feels
about two years ago.
he married me for my cholent."
Second-place honors went to Cherna Kowalsky for
The overall mood in the kitchen was pure fun. And
her "Chernis Cha Cha Cha." "This is my mother's
Gonik sees a great future in cholent cook-offs. He said
cholent and it's always been lauded," said Kowalsky. "I
there have been cook-offs in other cities and hopes to
am one of five children. It took a lot of food to feed our
see another local competition with other Michigan
family, and this was an inexpensive meal that was good
shuls.
and filling."
Young Israel of Oak Park held a cholent cook-off the
Contestant Tamy Chelst made her mother's recipe for
preceding week and another was held in Ann
Arbor.
Cholent History
Cholent, (pronounced "cholnt" or "choolnt"),
has practical roots. Since cooking is considered
work, it is prohibited on Shabbat. Yet, a hot
meal is called for.
So, Jewish cooks would often combine
ingredients in a pot or crockery vessel (usually
the same one each week), and take it to a local
non-Jewish run bakery or community oven
where it would cook from Friday afternoon
until Saturday afternoon.
The pots would be sealed (usually with a
paste made from flour and water), tamper-
proof and cooked slowly in the warm — not
hot — ovens (bread baking was finished by
early morning and ovens were kept warm all
the time).
When the pots were unsealed, the fragrant
stew inside would be tender and ready to eat.
Today, this is easily done in a conventional
oven or in a slow cooker.
Cholent can be made from most any foods.
It's the cooking technique, not the ingredients,
that define the dish. Though there are many
theories regarding where the word cholent orig-
inated, the most widely accepted is that it's a
contraction of the French words chaud (pro-
nounced "show"), which means "hot" and lent
(pronounced "lawnt"), which means "slow."
ERIC GROSSMAN'S STILL LIFE
WITH KISHKA
First Prize — Cholent Cup Winner
oil for frying
3 pounds beef flanken (with bone is better)
garlic powder to taste
paprika to taste
5 medium onions
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup dry barley (not quick barley)
4 cans (15 oz. each) small whole potatoes,
drained
2 T. ketchup
3 T. chicken soup powder
4 cups hot water
1 roll of kishka (weight varies)
Heat oil until very hot in a large non-stick skillet over
medium-high heat. Cut the flanken into 1-inch cubes
and fry on all sides until golden brown. Transfer all
meat to a slow cooker. Sprinkle meat generously with
garlic powder and paprika.
Add oil to skillet if needed. Dice onions and transfer
THE POT on page 60
7/30
2004
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