Although cholent may not seem to be exotic fare, there are countless varieties and many closely held recipes. Thankfully, on the web, people share their cholent.

The bubbe of all cholent lists can be found at the Jewish-Food Cholent Archives. At last count, there were almost fifty cholent recipes including Dafina, Hamin, Hungarian Sole’t and Nyana Choma. But if you are really daring, why not try out the Chocolate Cholent or the Yogurt Curry Cholent! http://www.jewish-food.org/recipes/choindex.htm Add to that the offerings from the RFCJ Archives (Tofu and Shiitake Mushroom, Rib-Sticking, Vegetarian Lo-Cal, etc.) and you can a different recipe every Shabbat for a year. http://tinyurl.com/6u55g

Or you may want to try “Yaptzok”, a Polish potato cholent where nary is a bean is found. (I grew up on yaptzok and it is dear to my heart. So I don’t even want to get into the controversy over whether this is a genuine cholent or simply a variation of a potato Kugel!) http://tinyurl.com/6g89n For more mouth-watering variations, take a look at Oded Schwartz’s Cholent (Hamin) - The Ultimate Shabbat Food. http://www.gemsinisrael.com/shabbat.html And if you’re game for something a bit different, try a Bison Cholent. http://tinyurl.com/4k9ja

It’s not uncommon to enjoy a cholent while downing an alcoholic beverage or two. But instead of washing down your cholent with a drink, why not pour it into your cholent? Cantor Joel Kessler of Adas Kodesch Shel Emeth in Wilmington, Delaware has graciously supplied his recipe for Beer Cholent. http://www.kashrut.com/recipes/beer_cholent/

Although modern Jews aren’t known for proselytizing, that doesn’t stop them from spreading the gospel of cholent. Rabbi J. Hershy Worch, a Lubavitch rabbi living in Australia, was lucky enough to pay a rare visit to the Jews of Uganda and prepare for them something they had never had – cholent. The Abuyadaya Jews always knew that cooking is forbidden on Saturday but they weren’t aware that Jewish law does allow food to be pre-cooked and kept warm on Shabbat. In his delightful article, Rabbi Worch explains how he built an oven into the packed earth floor of his bedroom, filled it with kidney beans, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, cloves and cumin, and served the Jews of Uganda their first hot Shabbat afternoon meal in memory. http://tinyurl.com/7y8zs

George Erdosh has a lovely – and loving - history of enjoying his family cholent in Hungary before the War. Erdosh then has great tips about the ingredients and flavouring, and ends with practical cholent advice I hadn’t see in other sites. Check out Indigestion on Shabbat at JewishMag.com. http://www.jewishmag.com/43mag/cholent/cholent.htm

“Kayla Kuchleffel’s” CHA-CHA-CHA CHOLENT doesn’t offer any recipes. Rather she examines cholent as a social phenomenon. “It is a known fact that in shuls where the Rebbetzin serves cholent every week, there is 100 per cent attendance by men, women and children. Cholent is the glue (or should I say cement) that holds the congregants to their shul.” http://www.countryyossi.com/jan00/humor.htm

But who says that cholent is just the rebbetzin’s domain, anyway? Rabbi Reuben Poupko of Montreal’s Beth Israel Beth Aaron’s Congregation discloses the recipe for his “famous” cholent. Don't miss the minuscule note at the bottom of the page: “DISCLAIMER: Making Cholent is an art not a science.” http://www.shul.org/cholent.html

All those recipes; all those recommendations. Sounds a bit daunting, doesn’t it? That’s how a couple of self-described “cholent virgins” felt when they embarked on preparing a Shabbat meal. So they turned to the Chowhound’s Kosher community message board for cholent help. You can read the advice they got and pose your own questions, too. http://tinyurl.com/4tr3v

And if you want to find a community that is devoted to the Sabbath stew, you need not go further than the Cholent Mix blog, “written by cholent enthusiastas for cholent enthusiasts.” I particularly liked the page where Velvel shares his “Cholent Philosophy.” “There are four necessary ingredients in my cholent,” Velvel explains. “If any of these are missing, it's not cholent: Meat, Beans, Barley, Potatoes. I prefer the addition of the following ingredients, but WeightWatchers dietary restrictions, spicy-heat tolerance and common sense of my wife may limit these: Kishke, Bourbon/Beer, Hot peppers, Liquid smoke and Maple syrup or honey.” http://cholentmix.blogspot.com/

Perhaps delighting in a good cholent pays spiritual dividends. The Ohr Somayach site adds that the Jewish commentator, the Be’al HaMeor composed the following poem in praise of those who eat hot food on Shabbat: http://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/70/Q2/

Who prepares cooked foods / And wraps them ‘round
Delights in Shabbat... / Gains a pound...
He’s the one whose faith is sound;
When Mashiach comes / He’ll be around.

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Mark Mietkiewicz is a Toronto-based Internet producer who writes, lectures and teaches about the Jewish Internet. He can be reached at highway@rogers.com.