Eggs poached in a spiced tomato and pepper sauce — a North African dish carried to Israel by Maghrebi Jewish immigrants and now eaten far beyond both.
From the Maghreb outward
Shakshuka's origins lie in North Africa, with Tunisia most commonly identified as its home and closely related versions eaten in Libya, Algeria and Morocco. The name is generally understood to convey the idea of a mixture, which suits a dish that is essentially everything cooked together in one pan.
It reached Israel in the mid-twentieth century with Jewish immigrants from the Maghreb, and became widely popular there, appearing on café menus across the country and spreading from that base to brunch menus around the world.
Its ingredients place it firmly in the post-Columbian Mediterranean: tomatoes and peppers both came from the Americas, so however traditional the dish feels, it cannot be more than a few centuries old.
Building the sauce
Onions and peppers are softened slowly, then garlic, and then tomatoes are added and cooked down until the sauce is thick and no longer watery. Rushing this stage is the usual mistake; a thin sauce will not hold the eggs and the dish becomes soup.
The characteristic seasoning is cumin, paprika and often caraway, with heat from chilli or from harissa, the Tunisian chilli paste that connects the dish to its origins. A little sugar is sometimes added if the tomatoes are sharp.
Wells are made in the finished sauce and eggs cracked into them. The pan is covered and cooked gently until the whites are just set and the yolks remain runny, which happens faster than most people expect and is worth watching closely.
How it is eaten
Shakshuka is served in the pan it was cooked in, scattered with coriander or parsley and often with crumbled feta or a spoonful of labneh, and eaten communally with bread torn and used to scoop directly from the dish. Cutlery is largely optional.
It works at any hour. In North Africa and Israel it is commonly breakfast or a light supper, while abroad it has been adopted mainly as a brunch dish. Green versions made with herbs, spinach and green peppers instead of tomato are a popular variation.
