The Charm of Shabbat Chamin.
Ever since I was a small child, Dafina has been a favorite food. This Moroccan hamim (Shabbat stew) is the ultimate comfort food
It’s been six years, dear reader! Six years of cooking and taking photos, sharing our recipes and stories, as well as trying to describe food using only one “delicious” per article.
To say that we are grateful to write this column is an understatement. It has been the impetus for us to record recipes that existed solely in our mothers’ memories or handwritten on loose sheets of paper.
Over the past six years, we have had the privilege to cook (and eat) for gloriously happy milestones, including wedding showers and baby showers, birthday celebrations and cooking classes. We cooked through the COVID pandemic and for the saddest times in our lives — the passing of my father David in 2023, as well as Rachel’s mother Rica in 2022 and recently, her father Messod and Neil’s mother Becky.
Funnily enough, the first two recipes we featured in the Journal were traditional Shabbat stews — Moroccan Dafina and Iraqi T’bit. So it feels like a full circle to share this recipe for chamin. This past week, I had invited a lot of Shabbat guests and Shevy, my youngest daughter, had invited a lot of her friends, so chamin was my perfect solution for feeding a crowd.
While Iraqi Jews traditionally make a chicken and rice dish for Shabbat, my mother sometimes made a flavorful chamin, a meat and bean stew. Inspired by her recipe, I bought a beef shank and beef neck bones. On Thursday, I set out my beans (Cholent bean mix works perfectly) and my pearled barley for an overnight soak.
On Friday morning, I sautéed the beef and bones in a Dutch oven until they were nicely browned. I sautéed onion and garlic and lots of spices, including paprika, turmeric and red chili flakes, granulated garlic and onion flakes. I added my beans and barley and covered everything with tomato paste, honey, brown sugar and chicken consommé.
Instead of cooking overnight (see Rachel’s notes below), I brought everything to a slow boil, then I left the chamin on the stovetop for five hours.
On Saturday morning, I popped it back into my oven for four hours before lunch. The chamin was perfectly beefy and caramelized and oh so delicious!
—Sharon
Ever since I was a small child, Dafina has been a favorite food. This Moroccan hamim (Shabbat stew) is the ultimate comfort food. Nothing can compare to the wonderful, smoky, sweet and savory long cooked flavors of the meat, onions, rice, wheat berries, garbanzos, potatoes, sweet potatoes and dates.
Honestly, I don’t make it every week because it’s very hearty and quite heavy on the stomach. It’s a lot of work to prepare and that long list of ingredients makes it more suited for feeding a crowd. So, I make it for the Shabbats when I know my entire extended family will show up.
Of course, Dafina holds so many precious memories that when I do make it, they all show up.
However, Dafina does present me with a logistics problem! Since this stew cooks overnight, the smells spread throughout the house. For me, the aroma wafting up to our bedroom in the middle of the night brings such comfort and joy. But my husband Neil didn’t grow up with hamim, so it doesn’t stir any fond feelings for him. For poor Neil, the smell is overpowering and makes him feel dizzy. He cannot sleep and has to open all the windows and close the doors. You can imagine the midnight drama!
So, many years ago, I had the ingenious solution of setting up a folding table in my backyard and using a long extension cord to plug in my crock pot.
The first few times I did this I was quite nervous and I had to get up in the middle of the night to check that no animal had tried to eat my Dafina. It proved to be an amazing way to solve the problem. But then we cannot open our bedroom window because that intoxicating aroma works its way up to my window from the backyard!
Looking forward to the next six years!
—Rachel
Meat Chamin
1 cup Cholent bean mix, soaked overnight
1 cup pearled barley, soaked overnight
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb beef shank or chuck roast
1 lb beef neck bones
2 large onions, diced
10 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion flakes
2 tsp sweet paprika.
2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
5 large potatoes
5 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp brown sugar
3 cups chicken consommé or water
In a Dutch oven, warm olive oil over medium heat. Add the beef and the bones and brown for 3 – 5 minutes on each side. Remove from the pot and set aside.
Add the onions and garlic and sauté for a few minutes. Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion flakes, paprika, turmeric and chili flakes and sauté for a further two minutes.
Return the beef and bones to pot. Rinse and drain the beans and barley, then add to the pot. Add the potatoes, tomato paste, honey and brown sugar and cover with consommé.
Gently mix the ingredients and bring the chamin to a slow boil. Cover the pot and simmer over low heat for five hours. Taste and add salt, if necessary. Refrigerate overnight.
Before sundown on Friday, set the oven to Sabbath mode at 250°F.
On Saturday morning, heat chamin for at least 4 hours before serving.
Sharon Gomperts and Rachel Emquies Sheff have been friends since high school. The Sephardic Spice Girls project has grown from their collaboration on events for the Sephardic Educational Center in Jerusalem. Follow them
on Instagram @sephardicspicegirls and on Facebook at Sephardic Spice SEC Food.
