Lamb, meatballs and spinach for Passover The word hammin (or hammim) is derived from the Hebrew adjective Ham or warm which describes certain dishes that are kept warm for prolonged periods of time. In Pitigliano, however hammin was the classic one-course meal for passover that both rich and poor used to make. The only difference between the versions was the in the cuts of meat used. Poor people used breast of lamb ...and meatballs made with beef (when the cost of ground beef was a fraction of the cost of chicken). People who didn't have to worry about the cost used tiny rib chops from baby lamb and chicken balls.