Sabbath stew

[1][2] Both stews are ultimately derived from harisa, a more simplistic, traditional Middle Eastern porridge consisting of just cracked durum wheat berries and meat.

[3] Over the centuries various Jewish diaspora communities created their own variations of the dish based on local food resources and neighborhood influence.

[1] 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.

After the destruction of the 2nd Temple, Rabbinical authorities began to work on the Mishnah to preserve Oral Law in an attempt to remain unified on halachic rulings.

The Karaites often disagreed with Rabbinic rulings like the kosher status of chickens and eggs[1] or whether fire is allowed to burn during shabbat leading to avoidance of candle light the entire day.

[10] 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.

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.

[18] The ingredients of hamin changed again in the 14th century, as famine in Northern Europe caused a fall in cattle rearing and increase in chicken and egg production,[19] leading to huevos haminados to be introduced to the Sephardic Sabbath stew.

[20] Following the 1492 expulsion of the Jews from Spain, hamin adapted to other local ingredients and seasonings, incorporating spices such as cinnamon, paprika, saffron and turmeric.

[1] The origins of cholent date back to the 11th century, when the Christian Reconquista of Al-Andalus or Islamic Spain, when culinary techniques from the Moorish period spread northwards into Europe through Provence.

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".

[28] In Egypt, "ferik" was used as a method of cooking harisa involving unripened, crushed wheat that gave the dish by the same name a unique green hue.

[29] Historians argue whether the ferik method was used before Sephardic migration after the 13th century since Jews did not live in Egypt in large numbers post-exodus until Spanish expulsion.