Shakshouka (shakshuka, shaqshuqa, chakchouka): 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

And my obsession with Israeli food continues...

What came first, the Shuk or the Shakshouka? There is hardly a café in Israel that doesn’t include a bit of shakshouka  on the menu. But today was one of those days where I felt like cooking it up myself. With summer having well and truly bid farewell and winter creeping up on us, I think it is time for something to warm up our hearts and spice up our spirits with this hearty dish.

A little bit of history..

The literal translation of shakshuka means “all mixed up”. Say it a few times over aloud. Seriously entertaining.

The dish is mainly made up of eggs, poached in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, onions and spiced with cumin, salt, pepper and whatever else you fancy. Originally coming from countries like Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Morocco it became popular in Israel from the Tunisian Jews.  Some people believe the dish was invented in the Ottoman Empire and spread throughout the Middle East – often served with a spicy sausage. Yummy yummy.

Two important rules come hand in hand with shakshouka

1)      It must be served in a cast iron pan that it was made in - for the authentic look

2)      Use bread to mop up the sauce

That’s it.

Apparently there's this new version out there called Chamshouka. When I first heard about this, I thought it was chummus mixed with shakshouka. It appears I was wrong. It happens to be a dish made of beef, nuts, onions and garlic. In the more hipster café’s, they also offer an option of “green” shakshouka. Sounds scary? Have no fear, it uses spinach to give it a green colour. I prefer the traditional version…

A Spot of Nutrition...

my home-made version

It happens to the best of us. Ordering Shakshouka for breakfast – BIG MISTAKE. Despite that being the popular option in this country, your body will not thank you for it. Too much oil, too early in the day. However, making your own shakshuka could be a really healthy meal. Here’s a few tips on how to DIY shakshuka the healthy way

1. If you have high cholesterol and are trying to cut back on the eggs, try using the egg whites only – or have one egg yolk and 2 egg whites.
2. Try and use a minimal amount of oil – even if it is a healthy oil, like olive oil or canola oil, oil is oil and oil is fat and fat will usually make you fat (if you have too much of it). So spray a little on the pan before you fry the onions, or if you’re using liquid oil just pour a little to cover the pan.
3. Take this opportunity to bump up your veggie intake. Ever heard of the recommendation of having 5 vegetables and 2 fruits a day? You could definitely squeeze in 2 or 3 vegetables in this one dish – besides for using the classic tomatoes and peppers, you could also throw in sweet potato, carrots, eggplant, zucchini – or anything really if you’re feeling adventurous. The other cool thing to know is that when tomatoes are cooked, they release a compound called “lycopene”, an antioxidant that will help our bodies fight off disease. So you actually get more nutrition out of cooked tomatoes, over raw tomatoes.
4. Eat slowly – because the dish is hot, it makes it easier to enjoy it nice and slowly. It also helps with making you feel full.
5. Eat with whole meal or wholegrain bread (skip the butter) and you get a full meal – eggs, vegetables and bread – what more could you want in life? Sprinkle some cheese on top for some bonus calcium.
6. Refer to previous blogpost on eggs: http://rantingsfromaranga.blogspot.com/2011/03/egg-roundish-reproductive-body-produced.html for more info on the nutrition they offer

Shakshouka from Marakiya