RFCJ RECIPE ARCHIVE
Posted by : Ruth Heiges Cholent, Hungarian: Shalet - meat
Although I prepare a decidedly Ashkenazic cholent (but with the addition of _haminados_, the browned eggs cooked with all of the other ingredients), I've become fascinated with the great variety of interpretations and variations which this slow-cooking dish has yielded. The dish which started as _hamin_ among the Jews of Spain hundreds of years ago evolved into a variety which ranges from Alsatian cassoulet to decidedly unkosher Boston baked beans. In Hungary, it became _shalet_, which -- next to, perhaps, chicken paprikash -- is widely regarded as the national dish. It is difficult, today, to find a kosher version of it in Hungary. This one was adapted by Haim Shapiro, restaurant critic for the Jerusalem Post. Shalet ~~~~~~~ [Jerusalem Post, June 7, 1996] "It is difficult to find any dish which is authentically Jewish. Everything we eat seems to be a derivation of food which was borrowed from or influenced by the people among whom the Jews lived. It was during a recent visit to Hungary that I found at least one country where Jewish cooking has very clearly influenced the local cuisine." "The recipe below is adapted from "Old Jewish Dishes" and "Flavours of Hungary," published by the Hungarian Tourist Board and available from Kultura, Budapest 62, P.O.Box 149, H-1389." 500 gr [1 lb] red (or white) beans 1 onion, chopped 2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup barley 1 carrot sliced goose breast or 2 goose legs 2 Tbsp good quality Hungarian sweet paprika pinch Hungarian hot paprika or hot pepper (optional) 1/4 tsp ground black pepper salt to taste For goose necks: skin of goose neck, well cleaned 2 cups flour 2 Tbsp goose fat pinch of salt 1 tsp sweet paprika 1/4 tsp ground black pepper Soak beans overnight. Prepare goose neck by kneading flour and fat with spices. Stuff mixture into goose skin and sew up both ends with plain white cotton thread. Mix beans, barley, onion, garlic, carrot and spices. Place in pot with goose and goose neck in the middle. Cover with water and cook very slowly. Traditionally the shalet cooks for about 18 hours, but it can be eaten after three or four hours of cooking. If you find it impossible to find a goose neck, a similar kugel can be prepared without it, using more goose fat. The kugel should then be placed at the bottom of the shalet casserole and covered with an old plate. Serves 4 to 6
