Since the recipes in my last post about eating in Biblical Jerusalem were such a hit, I decided to add one more recipe that is a traditional Jewish food and something the Woman of Stones might have made—cholent. Cholent is simply a hearty beef stew.

Traditionally, cholent is cooked overnight, beginning Friday afternoon before sundown and then continuing through the night so that it is ready to eat Shabbat (Saturday) afternoon. Cholent is cooked this way because observant Jews will not cook on Shabbat. These days, cholent is a perfect dish for the slow cooker since you can put in your ingredients, set the slow cooker on low, and let it do its thing—in this case for 16 hours!

I found this wonderful recipe on Tori Avey’s website (can you tell I love this website?) that I cooked myself and enjoyed. I agree with Tori that the finished result does look a bit medieval but it’s quite tasty and very filling.

Here are the ingredients for the slow cooker cholent:

• 2 1/2 lbs large red potatoes, peeled and halved (for a smaller slow cooker, use 2 lbs)
• 2 whole onions, chopped
• 2 1/2 lbs beef stew meat or brisket, cut into chunks
• 2 marrow bones
• 1 cup dried beans – lima, pinto, chickpeas, red beans (not kidney), or a mixture
• 1/2 cup pearl barley or coarse-grain kasha 
• 3 whole garlic cloves
• 6 eggs 
• 1/2 tsp black pepper 
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne 
• Water 

For the complete recipe, visit Tori’s website.

The Woman of Stones’ childhood in Nazareth helps us understand why she coveted comfort and ease. During the era of the Second Temple (from 516 BCE to 70 CE), Nazareth was a Jewish agricultural village. The village’s isolation kept the people Jewish while those living in Lower Galilee fell under Greek and Roman influence. Sepphoris was an important Roman center where the wealthier people lived while those in Nazareth struggled to make ends meet. The western boundary of Lower Galilee was defined by the slopes of Mount Carmel, the east by the Sea of Galilee, the north by the southern slopes of Mount Meiron at the sites of Kefar Hamaniah and Beer Sheba in the Beth ha-Kerem Valley. Though the hills were difficult to pass, those eager to communicate with people on the outside could do so. Over time, a trade route was established along the Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee.

Grottoes lined the village of Nazareth, with cisterns for water, presses for olives, vats for oil, and millstones and silos for grain. The village center housed the artisans in their open-air shops—the carvers, the weavers, the potters, the woodworkers, the metallurgists, the glassmakers, the stonemasons, and the carpenters. Those who practiced crafts with disturbing odors, such as the tanners who worked with animal skins, were located at the edge of the village.

Near the end of the harvest season the farmers in the fields would separate the wheat from the chaff, sometimes walking two hours to reach their fields, vineyards, or olive groves. Sometimes, when the harvest drew near, farmers built lean-tos in their fields, living there from Sunday mornings to Friday afternoons, arriving at their homes before sundown on Friday for Shabbat.

The Woman of Stones would have learned how to draw water, build fires, milk the sheep and goats, and churn the curdled milk to make cheese and yogurt. She would learn how to use the date palm for all its resources, the leaves for basket weaving, the fruit for sweets, the seeds for animal fodder, and the fig honey for fermenting into wine. She would learn how to use ingredients in season such as olives, almonds, pine nuts, coriander, black cumin, and cloves to make hearty meals. Honey donuts and sweetmeats of starch, honey, jasmine, and pistachio were popular sweets at the time.

Since bread was the staple of every table, one of the most important tasks young girls learned was how to bake bread. Round grinding stones were used to prepare the barley into flour. The dough was worked in a kneading trough. Unless it was Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the millet and barley yeast was added and left to rise overnight. The risen dough was patted into a round and baked in a mud-brick oven in the communal courtyard where most of the cooking was done. The bread had to be placed directly onto the embers and watched carefully.

Breaking bread, or having a meal with someone, created a bond and so there were rules that had to be obeyed. The bread wasn’t cut; it was broken. The bread wasn’t touched by plate, cup, or pitcher. The bread wasn’t touched by raw meat. Crumbs as big as an olive weren’t to be swept away but gathered. Girls were taught how to cook for the feasts, how to observe Shabbat, how to light the candles, how to say the prayers, and how to prepare the meals.

Perhaps the Woman of Stones might have made a filling cholent to see her family through Shabbat.