The word on everyone’s mind lately seems to be Shakshouka. What is it? Check out the Wikipedia definition right here:
Shakshouka (also shakshuka, shaqshuqa, chakchouka; Arabic: شكشوكة‎; Hebrew: שקשוקה‎) is a North African dish consisting of poached or fried eggs cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, onions, and spices (often including cumin, turmeric, and chillies), and usually served with white bread .[1]
Originally enjoyed by rulers of the Ottoman Empire, this dish later amassed its greatest popularity among the North African countries. Shakshouka was then taken to Israel largely by Tunisian Jews after the Jewish exodus from Arab lands. This dish is now a staple of Yemeni, Israeli, Tunisian, Algerian, Somali and Moroccan cuisine.[2] It is similar to the Turkish dish Menemen, and the Latin American breakfast dish Huevos rancheros.
Still not clear? Basically, it is the easiest, most flavorful dish that Israelis make. Make any tomato sauce (impossible to mess up). Crack a bunch of eggs into it (very hard to mess up). Wait. Eat. This is exactly what me and my roommate, a recent visitor of the famed Dr. Shakshouka restaurant in Tel Aviv, tried to do.
We started by sauteeing some onions and fresh tomatoes in all of the spices we could find:
Next step? Like I said, it is unbelievably easy. Just dump in a can of tomato puree. Once that get’s boiling, dump in a bunch of eggs:
Just let it sit for a bit until the eggs are all good to eat. Ours, I must admit did not turn out quite as pretty as some of the ones I’ve seen online, but it is pretty dang tasty:
See those white hunks? Those are the eggs.
The best part about Shakshouka… You can make a ton of it and it tastes great cold. Yes, I am pretty sure it is the only instance (besides egg salad which is in a league of its own), where I have enjoyed cold eggs.
Things are truly different over here in the Holy Land…
Aaron Strick is a Masa participant studying at the University of Haifa, one of Masa Israel’s 160 programs.
