It’s time for the great cholent com­pe­ti­tion Down Under, and Ami­ra and Nana are ready to present their spe­cial recipe to the judges and the oth­er com­peti­tors. Every­one is shocked and amazed as they watch Ami­ra and Nana pre­pare their dish. They are busi­ly adding ingre­di­ents to their stew — but they are not the ingre­di­ents any­one expect­ed to see. They are cer­tain­ly not the ingre­di­ents any­one is accus­tomed to tast­ing in cholent. Why is Ami­ra includ­ing gin­ger and gar­lic? Why is she spic­ing the stew with cin­na­mon? Rice? Eggs? An entire stuffed chick­en? This is not a cholent any­one has ever seen before. Can it even be con­sid­ered a cholent at all?

But when the fra­grant meal is final­ly ready, the con­sen­sus is clear: the recipe is absolute­ly deli­cious. It is a spe­cial Iraqi stew, Ami­ra explains, called t’bit or hamin. And although it is gen­tly sim­mered like cholent, and eat­en warm on Shab­bat, the tex­tures and fla­vors are entire­ly unique. Every­one loves it, and the ver­dict is in: this is the best cholent ever!

This enrich­ing sto­ry intro­duces read­ers to cus­toms with which they may be unfa­mil­iar and reminds them that Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ties have always lived all over the world, each with their own spe­cial tra­di­tions, tastes, and styles.

An appen­dix includes a tan­ta­liz­ing recipe and a bit of his­to­ry about the Jews of Aus­tralia. This Is Not a Cholent will expand the world of each read­er, chal­leng­ing them to inves­ti­gate the many tra­di­tions found with­in Jew­ish culture.