Israel - Shoshi's Tchoulnt - East of Eden - Carnet de voyage - Travelogue - Europe - Middle East

- one onion
- one head of garlic
- two large potatoes
- 250 g wheat germ
- 250 g white beans
- one large carrot
- salt, pepper
- six eggs
- 600 g goulash meat
- 2 bones

The Tchoulnt is the traditional Sabbath day meal. It is prepared on Friday on then left to simmer all day Saturday: among other restrictions, religious Jews are forbidden to cook from Friday to Saturday night, the Sabbath day being consecrated to prayer and rest, for "a world without the Sabbath would be world which would only know itself".

Before homes were equipped with gas stoves different means were used to keep the Tchoulnt hot until noon on Saturday: some, like my grandmother, used to bring it to the baker's, others built a kind of metallic or mud oven under which a slow fire was lit. This fire would burn all night long.
The family meal on the Sabbath and the tchoulnt were so socially important that we heard a story of a family which was so poor they couldn't prepare a tchoulnt, so they burnt chicken feathers near their window so as to keep up appearances...

24 hours before, on Thursday afternoon, soak the white beans in a bowl of water. Friday afternoon, sauté the onions in a little vegetable oil and then add the potatoes cut into large cubes.
Cover with water. Add the beans and the carrot cut into large slices.
Salt and pepper and stir.
Put the bones at the bottom. But the washed garlic head in the middle, and place the meat above it, then the hard boiled eggs.
Cover with water and let it boil, then lower the flame to the barest minimum and place two layers of aluminium foil over the flame so that the heat spreads evenly over the surface of the pot.
Check the flame every now again if your burner is fickle - the tchoulnt should cook all on its own until noon the next day...

Important note: the after effects can be dramatic, so you should have plenty of greens - celery is perfect - to cushion the shock. Avoid closed spaces with lots of people!

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