In all areas of the Jewish religion, grandparents love to tell stories to their grandkids. Whether it’s a tall tale or something they genuinely lived through, these stories stick with us until we tell them to our children and they, in turn, pass them on to theirs.

The following story has to do with food, but not just any food. I’m talking cholent. Cholent is an enigma. It’s the basis of all comfort and it encompasses everything that is right in this world. Think of the history behind cholent as a rite of passage into the understanding of Judaism.

Cholent is, in its simplest form, beans baked with smoked meat, kishka and other personally or culturally preferred ingredients.

Back in Eastern Europe, Jews led a fairly modest existence when it came to food. Families tended to be large and there was a need to feed many hungry children.

When Shabbat came along, cooking was forbidden. You needed something nice and heavy that could fill your children’s stomachs, which at the same time, would not empty your pockets. Even if you made something ahead of time, how would you go about cooking it? Since some towns were fairly small and people knew each other quite well, there was a trust that was shared between villagers. These people needed a dish that would basically cook itself. They had to think of something that was cheap and could be made ahead of time.

Beans were the answer. How would you cook these beans? Slowly, in the local baker’s bread oven overnight. Everyone had a casserole pot that held the heat well. Before Shabbat, people would make the cholent and give it to the baker on Friday evening. By the time shul ended on Saturday afternoon, all they had to do was pass by the bakery on their way home and pick up their pot of cholent for lunch.

Then, after Shabbat was over, there was leftover chicken fat from the soup trimmings. What did people do with leftover chicken fat? They fried it to make an additional treat. Jews were cutting the fat off of the chickens and saving it for a rainy day. These chicken cracklings made a nice, although somewhat sinful, snack.