Shakshuka or Chakchouka

"Tomatoes. Poached eggs. A few peppers. A little garlic. Need we say more?" Ben Jakob, Culture Up

This is for my lovely daughter-in-law who brunched on this classic middle-eastern dish today. My son, her husband, despises capsicum and so they don't really have a chance to have it at home. She had it in one of Eltham's trendy little cafés and I quickly found by looking online that it is a dish that is all the rage. Mostly people seem to think it is Israeli. As Felicity Cloake of the Guardian says:

"Sometimes I wonder what we all ate before Yotam Ottolenghi came along. ... how terribly dull breakfast must have been before the wonderfully exotic-sounding shakshuka entered our national vocabulary."

However, this is not originally an Israeli dish, however popular it may have become there. Although it might be Jewish. Its origins go way back to the Ottoman Empire and maybe even beyond, and most people seem to think that it actually originated in either Tunisia or Libya. North Africa anyway, from where it spread throughout the Middle-East and into Spain. Israel, if you remember, is a relatively young country. The name, by the way, is Arabic for to mix or shake up.

Like all of those ancient peasant dishes there are endless variations, although the basic ingredients seem to be those listed at the top. Felicity Cloake, in her usual comprehensive and informative way takes you through the common ones in an attempt to find the best version. Which, of course is very subjective - what is the 'best' version is entirely a matter of taste. And I also found a website that listed 15 variations which could get you thinking. Dionne told me that hers came with chick peas and had some dukkah on top which gave it a good crunch.

For me though, for all things middle-eastern I go to Claudia Roden the accepted expert on this area. Her recipe for 4 people is as follows:

CHAKCHOUKA

3 green peppers

4 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed

salt

3 teaspoons harissa or 1 teaspoon paprika and large pinch of cayenne

1 teaspoon ground caraway or cumin (optional)

4 tomatoes, peeled and sliced

4 eggs

Fry the peppers in oil in a large frying pan until they are soft. Add the garlic, and as soon as it begins to colour add the salt, harissa and spices and stir well. Add tomatoes and drop the eggs in whole. Cook gently until they set.

Variations

Fry 1 chopped onion with the peppers

Add 125g sliced mergez sausage with the tomatoes

Fry 11 sliced aubergine with only 1 pepper

Yotam Ottolenghi - who was mentioned at the beginning of this post has his recipe on the web too. But I have to say that his version is much more complicated - well it has many more ingredients anyway.

Not a lot more to say really - keep it simple - peppers, eggs, tomatoes or add things to your heart's delight. Yotam Ottolenghi mentions preserved lemon and feta for two and various greens seem to be a common modern addition. Have fun.

"Originating in North Africa, shakshouka has become a traditional Israeli dish that every family makes - and every family makes differently." Michael Rantissi & Kristy Frawley in Falafel for Breakfast