This is Not a Cholent by Sarah Sassoon with illustrations by Viviana Garofoli; Minneapolis: Kar-Ben Publishing © 2024; ISBN 9781727-486482; 22 pages; $18.99.
SAN DIEGO – Cholent as every Orthodox Jew knows is food that is prepared before Shabbat and cooked very slowly overnight on a low flame so that it can be served hot as a noon meal. Because Ashkenazi Jews predominate in many western countries, cholent often is thought of as a lightly seasoned dish of beef, beans, potatoes, and barley.
So, in this Australian-based story, when the Jewish community has a cholent competition, onlookers and most other competitors are surprised when Amira, whose Jewish roots are in Iraq, stuffs a chicken with such ingredients as garlic, ginger, onion, paprika, baharat spice blend, cinnamon, and rice. She cooked the stuffed chicken inside a mixture of sauteed tomatoes and cardamon, hard-boiling eggs in the same pot.
The next afternoon the tasting began. The judges didn’t recognize the taste, but they loved it. Amira explained that in Iraq, the traditional stew is known as t’bit or hamin. For the Ashkenazim, the new taste was exotic, delicious and unforgettable. Of course, Amira won the prize.
So what does this teach its intended audience of children between the ages of 4 and 8? It teaches them to try different tasting food. It subtly emphasizes the theme that diversity enriches our lives by picturing a multi-ethnic group of happy adults and youngsters – all presumably Jews — enjoying the lunch.
Anticipating that children may say to their parents, “I want to taste it too,” author Sassoon wisely has included a recipe for t’bit that might taste just like Amira’s.
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com