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Do You Like Slow-Cooked Food? Thank the Jews

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Our favorite Jewish slow cooker recipes.

Going back almost 2,000 years, the ancient Jewish community of Judea developed an ingenious workaround that enabled them to have a hot meal on the Sabbath afternoon despite a biblical injunction against cooking. The slow-cooked stew, a precursor to the Ashkenazi cholent and Sephardi hamin, is a combination of meat, beans, barley or rice, and other ingredients depending on custom and what was available in different regions, that's brought to a boil before sundown on Friday, and left to simmer until eaten on Saturday afternoon.

Needless to say, it's delicious, and over the centuries—in places as far flung as Morocco, Jerusalem, Vienna, and other communities the world over—religious Jews brought their stews to the local baker, whose oven was always kept fired, late Friday afternoon in order to slow-cook until the following day.

Photo Courtesy Smithsonian Institution / National Museum Of American History

In 1936, inventor, Irving Naxon, applied for a patent for a portable, slow-cooking device that contained a heating element that allowed for the heat to be evenly distributed. He received the patent in 1940, and said that his inspiration for the device was his Jewish grandmother’s stories about the cholents she kept warm at the local bakery back when she was a young girl in Lithuania.

Naxon's slow-cooker was originally marketed in the 1950s as the Naxon Beanery, but was eventually rebranded as the Crock-Pot in 1972. You can still get one today, and despite inflation, it doesn't cost that much more than its original $25 retail price.

The Jewish slow cooker recipes were developed out of necessity for Shabbat and every Jewish community developed their own version of a Shabbat stew. Today you can enjoy one of these recipes any day of the week.

Ashkenazi Style Cholent

This recipe comes from the Jews of Eastern European descent, loaded with meat, barley and potatoes, it is a favorite recipe you might have seen in an episode of Shtisel.

Tunisian Hamin - T’fina

This Tunisian Hamin recipe from Huppit at Afooda.com shows how you can make this stew vegetarian and highlights the addition of unique ingredients like dates and wheat berries. Get the recipe here.

Moroccan Dafina

A Jewish version of Moroccan Tajine, this dish is usually made where the grains are in separate bags during cooking and is a really unique stew. Get the recipe.

Iraqi T’bit

Traditionally, the chicken is stuffed with rice under its skin and then cooked overnight with tons of Middle Eastern spices. This version is simplified with chicken drumsticks and shows you how to make your own spice blend.

This slow cooker stew is made with chicken and rice. Get the recipe.

Southern Style Cholent with Brisket

More modern takes on cholent use the flavors of the region and this one is like a one pot slow cooked Southern brisket. Get the recipe.

Chicken and Bucatini Hamin

This riff on Shabbat hamin or cholent is typical of Jerusalem. It uses chicken, which was cheaper in the early days of the state, and slow cooked pasta, which is common in the Sephardic cooking styles that strongly influenced what is now Jewish Jerusalem cuisine. Get the recipe.

Doro Wat

This chicken stew native to Ethiopians was made special on Shabbat by the Jewish community. Traditionally served with injera, a famous Ethiopian spongy flatbread that’s perfect for mopping up sauce. Get the recipe.

Featured Image: Source: JamieGeller.com

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