cholent means A meat stew traditionally served on the Sabbath by Jews.
cholent is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃoʊl(ə)nt/.
Why “cholent” is a great word
A slow-cooked stew of meat, beans, and often barley, prepared before the Jewish Sabbath and left to simmer overnight so it may be eaten hot on Saturday without violating prohibitions against lighting a fire. From Yiddish טשאָלנט (tsholnt), likely from an Old French reflex of Latin calēns, present participle of calēre ("to be hot"). Unlike cassoulet, a purely regional French dish, or adafina, its specific Sephardic counterpart, cholent is an edible testament to Ashkenazic piety and ingenuity. It is the heavy earthenware pot sealed with flour paste and set in a banked fire on Friday afternoon; the deep, brick-red hue of paprika-stained broth; the gelatinous marrow surrendered by a bone after twelve hours of tender heat—the transformation of necessity into a weekly sacrament where warmth persists through the simple faith that it will.
Etymology
From Yiddish טשאָלנט (tsholnt), of unknown origin, but may be from an Old French reflex of Latin calēns.
noun
- A meat stew traditionally served on the Sabbath by Jews.e.g.“As Mr. Schonfeld climbed the stairs, he was carrying a steaming 18-quart pot containing the traditional Sabbath stew known as chulent.” — 2007 March 18, Jennifer Bleyer, “‘City of Refuge’”, in New York Times:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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