I’ve mentioned this classic North African breakfast dish before, in passing. But I thought it was high time to give it the spotlight. If you like ‘spicy’ but not necessarily ‘hot’, you’ll love this ancient and venerable one-pan meal. Come to think of it, it’s kind of familiar…
Traditional, authentic Shakshuka, fresh off the fire…
I have a soft spot
I guess I owe my soft spot for Shakshuka to my dad’s weekend breakfast routine when I was a little kid. If he was particularly moved to whip up a special day-starter, he’d set aside the usual Saturday pancakes and go all out making what we called his ‘birthday breakfast’ – bacon, eggs and Stewed Tomatoes.
The tomatoes – always plentiful from our own garden in season – were always big, meaty Beefsteaks, perfectly vine ripened to the point where they were just as sweet as they were tart.
Dad started his dish in a big frying pan, caramelizing lots of sweet onions in butter at a very low temperature. Then he’d toss in lots of those gorgeous tomatoes, skinned and chunked. The only ‘spices’ he used were salt and pepper. And the burner never rose beyond medium low as the onions and tomatoes simmered away lazily into a happy marriage. The result was a thing of beauty and a flavour unlike any other I’d tasted in my relatively brief existence.
The British connection
I later discovered that Stewed Tomatoes were a British ‘thing’. I never pursued the question with Dad, but I suspect that the dish came down to him through his mother’s side of the family. She was a prim, proper Victorian lady with all the trimmings, right down to her lace-up boots. Where did the Brits get the dish in the first place? Maybe, I now surmise, it was appropriated from the cuisine of Egypt, over which the Union Flag flew from the late-18th to the mid-20th century.
The history of Shakshuka
It’s interesting to note that the original Tunisian (and Morroccan, Mauritanian, Lybian, and Algerian) dish, Shakshuka, has been around since the 16th century when Spanish explorer Hernan Cortés brought back tomatoes from the new world and introduced them to Ottoman North Africa. It’s now popular across North Africa and the Middle East, and in finer eateries around the world.
Acording to Wikipedia, the traditional recipe consists of, “eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion and garlic, commonly spiced with cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper.” But there’s much more to it than that.
The key ingredient in the unique Shakshuka flavour profile is the ubiquitous North African seasoning blend (‘masala’) called Harissa. It’s a paste composed of roasted sweet red and hot red peppers, skins and seeds removed, caramelized onions (to taste), garlic, coriander, cumin, olive oil and lemon juice. You may like the version favoured in some regions which includes Caraway or Fennel. And you can leave out (or minimize) the hot red peppers if you like ‘spicy but-not-hot’.
Let’s get started
Here’s a great, easy, authentic Shakshuka recipe, complete with some interesting background and lots of tips that’ll help make your Shakshuka exceptional.
~ Maggie J.