''Tzimmes'', or ''tsimmes'' (, ), is a traditional
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
Jewish
stew
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been Cooking, cooked in Soup, liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for ...
typically made from
carrot
The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...
s and
dried fruit
Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. ...
s such as
prune
A prune is a dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (''Prunus domestica'') tree. Not all plum species or varieties can be dried into prunes. Use of the term ''prune'' for fresh plums is obsolete except when applied to varieties of ...
s or
raisin
A raisin is a Dried fruit, dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Afri ...
s, often combined with other root vegetables (including
yam).
Tzimmes is often part of the
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...
meal, when it is traditional to eat sweet and honey-flavored dishes. Some cooks add chunks of meat (usually beef flank or
brisket).
[Joan Nathan]
Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook
Schocken, 2004; page 228. The dish is cooked slowly over low heat and flavored with
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...
or
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose
Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
and sometimes
cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...
or other spices.
The name is a
Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
word that, according to the
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
, may come from
Middle High German
Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...
.
["tzimmes, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, March 2022, www.oed.com/view/Entry/208475. Accessed 17 April 2022.] "To make a big ''tzimmes'' over something" is a
Yinglish
Yiddish words used in the English language include both words that have been Language shift, assimilated into English language, Englishused by both Yiddish and English speakersand many that have not. An English sentence that uses either may be des ...
expression that means to make a big fuss, perhaps because of the slicing, mixing, and stirring that go into the preparation of the dish.
See also
*
Jewish cuisine
Jewish cuisine refers to the worldwide cooking traditions of the Jewish people. During its evolution over the course of many centuries, it has been shaped by Jewish dietary laws (''kashrut''), Jewish festivals and holidays, and traditions cen ...
*
Israeli cuisine
Israeli cuisine primarily comprises dishes brought from the Jewish diaspora, and has more recently been defined by the development of a notable fusion cuisine characterized by the mixing of Jewish cuisine and Arab cuisine.Gold, Rozann''A Region's ...
*
List of carrot dishes
References
{{Jewish cuisine
Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine
Casserole dishes
Carrot dishes
Yiddish words and phrases