M E D I U M D O N E
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YOU DON’T KNOW BEANS. THE CHOLENT DIARIES.
MAR. 2019
THE MOM AND THE MIXOLOGIST.
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WHEN IT COMES TO FLAVOR, CHEF ISA AC DOESN’T MAKE SACRIFICES
THE
KIDDUSH ISSUE
USA $5.99 / Canada $6.99 / UK £5 Australia $9 / SA R90 / Israel 25
BUTCHER'S CUT
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Kolichel
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OLENT
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BY SHIFRA & SHLOMO KLEIN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCHNEUR MENAKER
Y
ears before we started Fleishigs, kolichel was always our go-to cholent meat. Recently, we have expanded our kolichel horizons from simple cholent meat to so much more. It surprised us that in a home where we are constantly cooking meat (we do work on Fleishigs magazine, after all), it took us this long to discover the perks of this unique cut. Kolichel, calachel or kalakel (as spelled on the Grow & Behold website) is a football-shaped, inexpensive shoulder roast, also known as the chuck tender, that is sometimes sold as imitation cheek meat or cholent meat. It is a roast that shines when braised—cooked in liquid at a low temperature for a long time—and then shredded. Cut into large chunks, placed whole in cholent, or braised with exotic spices and shredded, kolichel takes center stage. Kolichel tends to be available in two sizes (depending where it is cut from) and the smaller one is always
cut one line
under 10 dollars, which makes this cut budget-friendly and perfect for a young family. When we make larger cholents, we use two small kolichels or one large one. Recently, kolichel has graduated from being the star of the cholent to being used for pulled beef as well. Instead of using second-cut brisket or french roast, we prepare pulled beef recipes using kolichel, which yielded tremendous results. We share our family’s basic cholent recipe with notes and variations, as well as some exotic internationally flavored pulled beef recipes. Most impressive though is Shlomo’s yapchik recipe, which has been tested and retested in so many ways. We are currently working on the perfect crockpot yapchik (coming in our Pesach issue). For years, we have consistently used flanken in this recipe. But considering the rising cost of flanken, now considered a prime cut, we knew we had to test our family's favorite recipe with the versatile cut of kolichel. We were thrilled with the results.
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l Cho ent
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FOOD TRAVELER I believe that people are divided into two groups: those who think of cholent as part of shabbos lunch, and those who actively participate in the Thursday night cholent “scene.” If you’re in the second camp, you’re probably nodding your head, thinking about how fun a cholent crawl must be. If you’re in the first group, however, you may be scratching your head, wondering what this is all about.
Allow me to introduce you to the cultural phenomenon that is the Thursday Night Cholent Scene.
BY MIRIAM PASCAL
a Cr wl
Restaurants that specialize in traditional Ashkenazi Jewish fare are packed with people (okay, mostly men, if stereotypes are to be believed) enjoying an array of foods that you might consider exclusively for shabbos. Cholent is usually the star, with the necessary accompaniments of potato kugel and kishka. As you’ll soon see, each place has different offerings, but the one thing they all have in common is that it’s not just about the food. It’s about the “matzav,” or vibe. It’s about chilling, chatting, and in some cases (as Shlomo Klein will attest) making new friends and business connections. To properly research this article, we undertook a big challenge: four Thursdays, four towns, lots and lots of cholent. Here’s what we learned along the way. Miriam Pascal is the founder of www.overtimecook.com and cookbook author of Something Sweet and Real Life Kosher Cooking. You can follow her daily food adventures on Instagram @overtimecook.
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SOUR DOUGH
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SOUR DOUGH
SOURDOUGH BY CHAYA SURI LEITNER
DEBUNKING MYTHS The sour flavor depends on the process you use to prepare the dough and the end result can be either mild or tangy.
Once you have an established starter, you don’t need to “baby” and feed it every day. You can store it in the fridge and feed it once a week.
Baking sourdough bread may seem like a lengthy or daunting process, but in reality it is effortless once you understand the process.
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SYRIAN FEAST
BASBOOSA
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K SKIRT STEA
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Be My Guest
R
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WRITTEN BY CHAVA WITKES
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LAHA
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RECIPES BY JACQUELINE ELBAZ
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SYRIAN FEAST
CROCKPO
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H EC T M
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SHABBOS KIDDUSH
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BY CHAVA WITKES RECIPES & TIPS BY HESHY JAY
The founder of Scoop and Company dishes on designing a kiddush people are pumped to be invited to. (Spoiler alert: He's certainly not serving jarred gefilte fish!) 46
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MODERN HEIMISH
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CHEF ISAAC BERNSTEIN Chef Isaac is all about changing things up and putting his own spin on Jewish classics. His ability to seamlessly fuse classic, old-world Jewish cuisine with modern techniques and trends never fails to impress. His pulled beef babka, multi-course private dinners, and Pom Prime menu offerings from his time at Pomegranate supermarket in Brooklyn, New York, are a few testaments to his creativity. Chinese food has always been a favorite of Chef Isaac because, who doesn’t like Chinese food? Chef Isaac reminisces about Chinese takeout he had as a child. “It wasn’t the cheapest dinner to feed a family, so when we had Chinese takeout, it was a special occasion. Also, growing up in a kosher home, Chinese food was an exploration into completely unfamiliar flavors. Think about General Tso's chicken. It's always fresh, fried on the spot, with a crispy batter that can rival any chicken nugget. And the sauce is always a perfect balance of sweet, savory, spicy and umami flavors that hit your palette at once in an explosive way. Plus, it makes for good munchies.” There is an ease about preparing Chinese food. It does require investing time chopping, prepping and sauce making. But once your ingredients are ready and lined up, the final dishes come together in minutes. Chef Isaac came to the Fleishigs test kitchen (we shared all the behind-the-scenes on our Instagram stories @fleishigsmag), and made multiple spectacular, not-your-typical takeout Chinese dishes in under two hours.
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