For the shredded flatbread and chickpea dish, see Chakhchoukha. For the Turkish eggplant dish, see Şakşuka. For the documentary film, see The Shakshuka System.
The word shakshouka (Arabic: شكشوكة) is a Maghrebi Arabic[5] term for "a mixture".[6][7][8][9] According to Mary Fitzgerald, the word is allegedly believed to come from the Berber languages,[10] although most sources agree on the term's Arabic origin. In Morocco, it is referred to as bīḍ w-maṭiša (بيض ومطيشة "egg and tomato").[11] The term shakshouka may have derived from "shak", another Arabic word meaning "to combine things together", as the dish combines tomatoes, chilies and eggs.[4]
Gil Marks, while noting some similarities with the Ottoman dish menemen, suggests that shakshouka evolved from şakşuka which spread to the Maghreb through the influence of the Ottoman Empire.[1] Anthony Buccini noted similarities between a wider range of vegetable stews. He and Noam Sienna conclude that both shakshouka and menemen, among other dishes like piperade and ratatouille, are members of a wider family of vegetable stews of common ancestry appearing throughout the western Mediterranean.[2][3]
The migration of Maghrebi Jews in the 1950s brought the dish to Israel, where it was subsequently widely adopted despite not being previously present in Palestinian or Levantine cuisine.[1][2] Shakshouka began appearing in Israeli restaurants in the 1990s.[10]
Merguez shakshukaVegan shakshouka, with falafel in place of eggs
Many variations of the basic sauce are possible, varying in spice and sweetness. Some cooks add preserved lemon, salty sheep milk cheeses, olives, harissa or a spicy sausage such as chorizoormerguez.[12] Shakshouka is made with eggs, which are commonly poached but can also be scrambled, like in the Turkish menemen.[13][14]
InAlgeria, shakshouka is commonly eaten as a side dish, and there are countless variations of it, each with their own unique blend of ingredients. One such variation is hmiss, which is often served alongside traditional kesra bread. Hmiss typically includes grilled peppers, tomatoes, and garlic. In Tunisia, a similar dish called slata meshouia is enjoyed, but it differs from hmiss with the addition of onions, cumin and tuna.
Because eggs are the main ingredient, it often appears on breakfast menus in English-speaking countries, but in the Arab world as well as Israel, it is also a popular evening meal,[20] and like hummus and falafel, is a Levantine regional favorite.[21] On the side, pickled vegetables and North African sausage called merguez might be served, or simply bread, with mint tea.[22]
In Jewish culture, a large batch of tomato stew is made for the Sabbath dinner and the leftovers used the following morning to make a breakfast shakshouka with eggs.[14]InAndalusian cuisine, the dish is known as huevos a la flamenca; this version includes chorizo and serrano ham.[23]InItalian cuisine, there is a version of this dish called uova in purgatorio (eggs in purgatory) that adds garlic, basil or parsley.[24]
^ abBuccini, Anthony F. (2006). "Western Mediterranean Vegetable Stews and the Integration of Culinary Exotica". In Hosking, Richard (ed.). Authenticity in the Kitchen: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2005. Prospect Books. pp. 132–145.
Quotations related to Shakshouka at Wikiquote
