Tzimmes

Tzimmes is a a caserole or stew belonging to Eastern European and Russian Jewish cookery consisting primarily of vegetables and fruit. Cooking meat together with fruit and vegetables is an ancient tradition dating back to the fertile crescent.http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior:Ancient_Civilizations/Persians

Prepared primarily with carrots, sweet potatoes, honey and dried fruit like prunes, raisins and apples, Tzimmes is meant to be a somewhat sweet dish as is the tradition of Jewish and Eastern European festivals.http://www.whats4eats.com/vegetables/carrot-tzimmes-recipe Variations of just fruit or certain seasonal vegetables are also quite common.

Compote and stew have customarily been part of European culture and Tzimmes is no exception. Having originated in Germany, Tzimmes also has Yiddish roots and is a main staple during Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah.http://indianapublicmedia.org/eartheats/jewish-food-traditions/ It's also a cold climate staple as one of the key ingredients, root vegetables, are abundant during winter.

Originally referred to as zuomuose (German for side dish) the Tzimmes or Tsimmes has come to gain the reputation of a fussy food and Tzimmes has with time come to represent 'time consuming or requiring much ado. Speculatively because of all the chopping and peeling involved in preparation.http://recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/sweet_carrot_tzimmes