Cholent

It sounds insane. Why would anyone deliberately leave a pot cooking for fifteen hours straight? But that’s what Jewish people worldwide have done for more than 1,700 years.

In this richly-researched book, Jewish food scholar Joel Haber explains the reasons for this practice, digging into how one special food—“the Shabbat stew”— has changed as Jews have migrated. Despite unique ingredients and names (cholent, hamin, skhena, khalebibi, and more), these many stews prove to be versions of the same dish, rather than different ones. A popular one-pot meal traveled with Jews wherever they moved, morphing with what ingredients were available and popular. The book uses this singular “stew with a thousand flavors” to trace the routes of Jewish migrations throughout the Diaspora.

Exploring the changes to the dish, and to Jewish life in each place, Joel highlights how this dish embodies the Jewish story. The Jewish nation is the most globalized on earth, one people with numerous visible communal variations. This book celebrates Jewish uniqueness, as seen through the nearly 30 tried and tested recipes the book includes. Reflecting that unity-within-diversity, the kaleidoscopic Shabbat stew is truly the most Jewish food on earth.

REVIEWS

"Compelling, well-researched... Haber is both knowledgeable and entertaining.” — Jamie Geller, bestselling author of Quick & Kosher and Jewlish by Jamie

"Joel's book feels so essential at this moment.” — Adeena Sussman, NY Times bestselling author of Zariz and Shabbat

"Smart, soulful, and deeply delicious — exactly what Jewish food writing should be.” — Chanie Apfelbaum, author of Totally Kosher and Millennial Kosher

"With the warmth of a seasoned storyteller and the curiosity of a culinary detective…" — Susie Fishbein, bestselling author of the Kosher by Design series

"As deep, rich, and satisfying as the dish itself.” — Ken Albala, Tully Knoles Professor of History, University of the Pacific