cholent

Cholent or Schalet () is a traditional slow-simmering Sabbath stew in Jewish cuisine that was developed by Ashkenazi Jews first in France and later Germany, and is first mentioned in the 12th century. It is closely related to the French cassoulet and is believed to have been derived from hamin, a similar Sabbath stew that emerged in Spain among Sephardic Jews and made its way to France by way of Provence.

==Etymology== Max Weinreich traces the etymology of cholent to the Latin present participle calentem (an accusative form of calēns), meaning "that which is hot" (as in calorie), via Old French (present participle of , from the verb , "to warm"). One widely quoted folk etymology derives the word from French ("hot") and ("slow"). Another folk etymology derives cholent (or ) from , which means "that rested [overnight]", referring to the tradition of Jewish families placing their individual pots of cholent into the town baker's ovens that always stayed hot and slow-cooked the food overnight.