Cholent Contest Warms up Yeshiva University

By Sergey Kadinsky

While it may not be a Winter Olympic sport just yet, the competition at this year’s Yeshiva University Cholent Cook-off on March 18 was fierce.

15 teams of students competed to be judged cholent champions by a veritable who’s who of Jewish kosher personalities including cookbook author Susie Fishbein, Abigael’s chef Jeff Nathan, Great Kosher Restaurants Magazine publisher Elan Kornblum, and Alan Riesenburger, the executive chef of Fairway Market. Also judging was Dr. Esther Joel, wife of YU President Richard M. Joel, and Joel himself who popped in for an occasional one-liner.

“This is your great-grandmother’s? I like my cholent fresh,” quipped Joel to one beleaguered team.

Kornblum gave his own explanation of the rating scale with ranged from 1-10.

“Dry cholent is hard to taste, it’s a 6,” he maintained. “A 9 makes me feel like it’s Shabbos.”

“Some guys throw anything in and call it cholent,” added Fishbein. “A good cholent has moisture and it’s not too sweet.”

Among the first of the four-person teams, “Whitest Guys you Know,” came up with an eclectic mix in their cholent.

“This Moroccan dafina has spices from 3 continents,” said team member Chanan Reitblet, a sophomore. “It has turmeric, saffron and cumin.”

Another team took the opportunity to make an environmental statement.

“We have mango and cilantro,” said Yeshiva University senior Evan Cheser. “It’s the green heimishe cholent.”

Among the lowest scoring was a sweet cholent made with chocolate syrup and graham crackers.

“We heard they judge on creativity,” said team participant David Schwartzbaum.

Upon receiving the dismal score, he stood by the product.

“We made it with a lot of love,” he lamented.

Among the finalists, Lawrence resident Tzvi Simpson, gave the correct Jewish answer to the secret of his cholent success: his mother.

“My mom made cholent and gave me the opportunity to add to it,” said Simpson.

“In a home with three sisters, I was the one boy who made the cholent.”

A canned-food drive was held alongside the cook-off.

“One of the nice things about this year’s contest is that we tied it in with our food drive for the Upper Manhattan Food Pantry,” said Jonathan Mantell, director of university housing.

The winning team, Heerlijk, was comprised of seniors David Kuppermann, Jonathan Lamet, Jason Wargon and Eric Kupferstein. The team name means “delicious” in Flemish; Kupperman hails from Antwerp. The winners each received an iPod Nano and a meal with a waiter in the university cafeteria.

The judges also recalled a somber side to the history of cholent and its origin among impoverished shtetl-dwellers .

“Cholent carried a meal for over two days,” said Riesenburger. “It’s anything goes, but there’s marrow for thickening; rice, grains and beans mixed it. You did not need the most expensive cut of meat.”

“We look at it now with nostalgia,” explained Fishbein. “But cholent wasn’t the happiest of meals. It was invented in a time of hardship.”