Solet

Cholent in Yiddish or solet (sholet) in Hungarian is a traditional meal that I love tremendously. Actually it is a single dish but it is so rich in flavors that it is like a full course dinner.

Basically it's nothing but beans. But beans in a heavenly way. I don't know if the recipe is in one of Moses' books but it seems that every Jew I ever talked to know about it and like it.

Beans are cooked with beef or smoked goose legs (the non-Jewish way with pork). The secret is in the slow cooking. When I was a little boy back in Budapest my mother occasionally made this meal. She prepared it at home in a huge pot then asked me to take it down to the neighborhood bakery where the baker put it in his oven and let it cook overnight. By next day it was done and it was great.

Here my wife made it today but it didn't have to be cooked overnight. About three hours in the oven was enough and it turned out fantastic. No wonder, because beside the beans and all other stuff there was a large portion of love added to it.

I had two servings and after was barely able to wander over to the sofa to relax.

Can life get any better?