Across the Mediterranean and Middle East there is a common culinary delicacy: known to all, claimed by some and made possible only by the movement of New World.
Foods to the Old World by Spanish Colonialism.
The two most important ingredients of this dish, tomato and peppers/paprika, were plundered (stolen) from the Central Americans some five hundred years ago, which was a very good thing because it allowed for the development and refinement of a transnational and multicultural dish we know and love today as Shakshuka.
Shakshuka, which originated in North Africa, is a dish of eggs poached in tomato and pepper sauce. The name means “mixture” in the Berber language. The Berbers were the desert people of inland North Africa and, as early converts to Islam, were the backbone of the Fatimid Caliphate that conquered North Africa along with much of what we know of today as the Middle East.
Unfortunately for them, during their rule Christopher Columbus had yet to arrive on the shores of South America and bring back with him the essential ingredients for shakshuka. Thus while all triumphant in their conquests they never got to enjoy the dish named in their tongue that was developed long after they were turned into the dust of history by their infamous Kurdish nemesis Saladin.
“Shakshuka” is a very simple dish (a sort of Middle Eastern ‘bubble and squeak’) that anyone can make anywhere, anytime. In Middle Eastern restaurants it is usually served up in an individual skillet or frypan with a variety of local side salads and a thicker version of pita bread. There are options with traditional ‘Merguez’ spicy lamb or beef sausages, or you can do a vegetarian and gluten-free shakshuka with onion, tomato and peppers. There is no real point in a vegan version without the eggs.
In Israel the most famous shakshuka restaurant is Doctor Shakshuka in Tel Aviv-Yaffo, founded by the son of Libyan Jewish refugees from Tripoli. Bino Gabso a.k.a. “Doctor Shakshuka” reportedly perfected his shakshuka style while behind bars in the 1980s.
Shakshuka (vegetarian version) enough for 4 persons.
Photos The BFD
Ingredients:
- Olive oil x 2 tablespoons
- Medium-sized onion, peeled and diced
- Garlic teeth x 2 diced
- Red bell pepper x 2, deseeded and roughly chopped
- Tomato pulp x 1 400 gram can
- Tomato paste x 2 tablespoons
- Fresh chilli pepper x ½ with seeds or chilli flakes (if you want spicy)
- Sweet paprika x 2 tablespoon
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Eggs x 2 per person
- Small bunch parsley washed and chopped for garnishing
Method:
Heat pan with olive oil on medium heat, add onions, fry for a couple of minutes, add chilli pepper and garlic, stir for a minute, add peppers, cook until soft, add tomato pulp and sweet paprika, turn down to a low heat and cook for ten minutes, add tomato paste, stir well, salt and pepper to taste.
At this point your shakshuka sauce should be nice and thick. Using a dessert spoon make an indentation in the sauce for each egg and place however many eggs you require, cover with lid and let cook until eggs are poached.
When eggs are done to your preferred readiness remove the lid and place the pan on a board in the centre of the table. Sprinkle parsley over the shakshuka and serve.
Next week back to the patisserie. Very simple mini cheese croissants for morning tea or pass around finger food, super scrumptious and hard not to eat like chips.
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