For the village in Iran, see Hamin, Iran. For the village in Syria, see Hamin, Syria. Shabbat stews were developed over the centuries to conform with Jewish laws that prohibit cooking on diasporic food Sabbath. There are many variations of the dish, which is standard in both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi kitchens and among other communities.

Harisa”, also transliterated as “horisa”, derived from the Semitic origins of “haras” meaning “to break” to describe the action of breaking and crushing barley before mixing it with water to create a porridge. Other variations of shabbat stews include Arabic words dependent on each stew’s origin. Ethiopians “sanbat wat”, a play on “shabbat wat”, to mimic a local treif dish “doro wat” meaning “chicken stew” in Amharic. Jewish families placing their individual pots of cholent into the town baker’s ovens that always stayed hot and slow-cooked the food overnight. In traditional Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi families, stew is the hot main course of the midday Shabbat meal served on Saturdays typically after the morning synagogue services for practicing Jews. Very little documentation of Jewish diet before the 6th century exists except in small circles and the scriptures from the Torah. As the Jewish diaspora grew with Jewish migrations into Europe, North Africa, and elsewhere in the Middle East and Central Asia, Jewish diaspora communities developed their own variations of the dish based on the local climate, available ingredients and local influence.

The most accessible foods to Jews living in Israel before the destruction of the Second Temple likely ate the Mediterranean Triad: grain, oil and wine, which were available at low cost and vast amounts. While both wheat and barley were grown in Israel, barley was more likely to supplement inland Palestine. Cooper argues wheat would have been twice as expensive as barley which could grow in rougher soils closer to Jerusalem. Meats were considered “luxury” goods that few could afford except on special occasions like shabbat and other holidays. Lambs and goats would have been popular as they grazed in arid climates and provided supplementary products like wool and milk while cattle were more expensive to maintain and priced as sacrificial. Chicken was likely domesticated in Southeast Asia and popularized in Ur around 2100 BCE though the Israelites would have been less likely to eat it due to association of Roman sacrifice. Until the 8th century, the upkeep for chickens meant they could only be raised in small numbers making them a delicacy few could afford outside of shabbat.

The increase in chicken lead to a surplus of eggs as a renewable resource. Huevos haminados” began to describe the long process of long roasting eggs in hamin pots overnight that produced a signature aroma. The concept of “re’ach nicho’ach” describes the direct line of spiritual connection of scents from the nose to the soul. The rise of the Spanish conquest of Iberia, known as the Reconquista, stretched from as early as the establishment of Christian Kingdom Austurius in the early 8th century until the surrendering of Granada in 1492 by the ruling Moorish Kingdom. Sephardim who remained religious learned to hide observation of shabbat by “hiding” or “concealing” their pots in the embers of household fires or underground ovens from their Christian neighbors. The slow warming of the embers inspired an extra layer of precaution to the prohibition of cooking on shabbat, the blech. The blech covers a fire or modern stovetops to prevent cooking while allowing heat to transfer from one item to another indirectly as a warm source without “kindling”.

Hamin, scheena and cholent all commonly use a blech pinpointing their distinctions to a similar time period. Even in ancient Israel, it is likely that vegetables supplemented stews with native vegetables like leek, garlic and onions which were more accessible to poorer communities like future Ashkenazi. Historians have little proof other than modern economic trends as there was little documentation in the original period and vegetables decompose making it harder to note from archaeological evidence. After the Columbian Exchange, new vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes and beans rose in popularity. They offered more substantial nutrients at lower costs than meats but with more flavor than barley, wheat or rice. In the Maghreb, a South American hot chili pepper called “harissa” thrived in the regions soil. Slow cooking crushed wheat, tomatoes and harissa created a spicy sauce that added new flavors to classic rice dishes.