Making Shakshouka with Synda

When I first went to Tunisia, many years ago, my dear friend Synda often made Shakshouka for me. It consists of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce and it's such a tasty dish that I never got tired of eating it. In fact, I adopted the recipe once I was back home because it's so easy to make and I almost always have all the ingredients on hand. It's now my go-to "fast-food" when I don't know what to make for dinner. Or lunch, or breakfast, for that matter. Because it's a dish that is suitable for any meal of the day!

Shakshouka is a traditional Tunisian dish that is popular all over North Africa and the Middle East, and in recent years, it's become better known here in North America. Synda usually makes it with fresh tomatoes, but I often make it with canned tomatoes from my garden, since we only have fresh homegrown tomatoes for such a small window of the year. I find it's equally good with canned tomatoes, so feel free to use whichever is most readily available to you.

Try to use local pastured organic eggs if you can, because the yolks will be a deep dark beautiful yellow instead of that sad pale yellow color that factory-farmed eggs tend to have. This dish is most appetizing when the colors pop off the plate!

There are many variations of this dish out there, so feel free to improvise. I'm providing the recipe exactly as I learned it. And Synda in turn learned to make it her mom, who is an incredible cook. The key spice that they both use is a mix of ground coriander and caraway, called tebel-carwiya in Tunisia. Most of the "North American" versions of shakshouka call for cumin, but Synda's version doesn't, and I personally much prefer her spice blend to the use of cumin. However, if you're a cumin lover, by all means go ahead and throw a few pinches in there.

Once you know the recipe well, you won't even follow it anymore and you'll just make it your own, customized to your taste. You can add fresh chopped peppers for added spice, if you wish. You can poach the eggs for as long as you want to, depending whether you prefer a soft yolk or a hard yolk. I've sometimes added capers or crumbled feta cheese on top, which is lovely. Be sure to eat it with some bread to soak up every last drop of the tomato sauce. Enjoy!