For a long time, I wanted to make and publish a real, original shakshuka recipe here on the Schnitzel in a Wok website, where, after all, my mission is to present recipes from international cuisines in versions that are as authentic as possible. (In some languages, shakshuka is also written as shakshouka or saksuka.)
Whenever I do this, I set out on a little research journey—often, of course, only through the mysteries of the internet—to find a version that is not only delicious, but can preferably also be called authentic.
I did the same when searching for the original shakshuka recipe. I’ve seen plenty when it comes to “original” recipes, but I wasn’t necessarily expecting what I found here.
Where Does the Original Shakshuka Come From?
If you simply go through the world with your eyes open, you’ll quickly find that shakshuka, besides being a very internationalized recipe—and, based on that, presumably Americanized—is most often encountered in connection with Israeli cuisine. If, after that, you dig just a little deeper into the recipe’s origins, you come across Maghrebi, meaning North African, roots.
I have a habit that when I’m looking for a non-Anglo-Saxon recipe, I certainly don’t stop at the often arbitrarily changed English-language recipes that are almost exclusively available in the Western world. In these cases, I research recipes from the country of origin, in the original language, and try to find the versions that are most typical locally and can be called original.
Of course, I could move to, say, Tunisia for half a year and go door to door discovering how locals make the real, original shakshuka over there. I’m sure it would be fun, and I’m sure plenty of people would think that this really is the only way to find an original recipe, but still…
This Is Where the Complications Began
We can basically agree, right(?), that shakshuka is a kind of poached egg cooked in a spiced tomato sauce. At least from the perspective of our Western—and, as I already mentioned, strongly Americanized—understanding of the dish.
But the first surprise came when I started my research by looking for original Moroccan shakshuka recipes. It turned out that around there, a kind of cooked pepper-and-tomato salad is more commonly known as taktouka / tektouka.
Then there is Tunisian shakshuka, which is already more similar to what we know. But the classic poached egg cooked in it is certainly not as widespread as you might first think. In that North African country, the dish is often eaten on its own, but also with French sausage (mergez), kadid (dried meat), potatoes, or fish balls.
In Algeria, chakchouka appears much more as a kind of local ratatouille, in which eggs are not only not an everyday ingredient, but if they are added, they are often stirred in rather than left whole. On top of that, a grilled version is also popular around there, where the vegetables are first grilled, then peeled, and only after that is the dish started in oil.
And let’s add to this that unsurprisingly recurring twist: even within the regional versions, there are roughly as many variations as there are recipes. And this is even true of Israeli recipes, which are closest to the internationally known version of shakshuka.
And Then Came Lecsó
There is one thing we definitely shouldn’t forget, and in this context I’ll mention it only very briefly. If we think of a dish of onions, peppers, and tomatoes sautéed in oil, very often served with eggs cooked into it or with sausage, then what comes to mind first? Surely not lecsó?! Hm…
Well, so much for whether it’s possible to find a single original recipe for any dish and tie it to one single nation in this colorful world.
America and Global Recipe Culture
America is a melting pot, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Many different cultures live peacefully (?) alongside one another, and among other things, flavors are mixed quite boldly and colorfully in kitchens in the USA. A special and not infrequently unique flavor world, and in many ways a particularly open attitude toward the international culinary stage—the world, and many recipes that were previously less known internationally, owe a great deal to American culture.
But when it comes to preserving original recipes, experience suggests that unfortunately, perhaps one of the worst places a person can go is the site of an American blogger or vlogger. Let’s be honest. These online platforms often find and pick up a recipe that sounds good, or one that happens to be on the rise. Perhaps they don’t even fully understand what the original, local version is actually about, and especially what the authentic dish is made from and how.
But traffic is needed, and that traffic is brought not by people from the original country, but by those at home—meaning Americans. So, on top of this fundamental misunderstanding, they also push these recipes through a distorting filter so that they can be consumed by the bucketful by a target audience living in the Instagrammed TikTok bubble and—let’s admit it—unfortunately, in most cases, quite culturally simplified.
No, I’m not whipping Western culture or the modern world right now. Not even America. Nothing could be further from me.
It’s just that publishing delicious or even trendy recipes is one thing—not only does everyone have the right to do that, but it is also useful from society’s point of view. But it is another thing to change and rewrite original recipes, whether because of misunderstanding or the desire for higher traffic, and falsely present one’s own versions as authentic. There is no need for the latter, and no culture has ever been built by altering its roots for any reason.
So Then, What Is Original Shakshuka Like?
Taking all of this into account, I think there are two possible answers to this question, and both can be true even at the same time.
- There isn’t really one single original shakshuka recipe. As with many other dishes, it is especially true here that thousands of variations exist, and even French ratatouille or lecsó could be placed in this category.
- In essence, almost any onion-tomato-pepper dish made in a skillet can be called shakshuka, since there is a good chance that somewhere, locals eat that version.
The version most widely spread around the world is usually made with onion, lots of tomatoes, and most often bell pepper, and poached eggs are cooked into it at the end.
In Israel, onion and pepper are often missing from it; in Morocco, it is served more as a kind of salad. In Algeria, it is often even made from vegetables that have first been grilled, while in Tunisia they like to enrich it not only with eggs, but also with sausage, dried meat, potatoes, or fish balls.
But anyone, anywhere, can make any of these versions, and it can still be called shakshuka without any problem, even if it perhaps doesn’t fit the way some famous blogger or chef thinks about the dish.
A dish doesn’t become delicious or not delicious because of what it’s called. But by respecting cultural traditions and paying attention to calling things by their proper names, perhaps we can have far fewer misunderstandings.
