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Ojja (Shakshuka) is a delicious tomato and egg dish, a popular Tunisian breakfast. While it’s eaten across North Africa, it’s believed to have been created in either Tunisia or Yemen. The name comes from the Tunisian Arabic slang for “mixture.”
The tomato sauce is flavored with garlic, chili peppers, and spices, and the eggs are poached. You will typically find it served in either a skillet or in a tagine.
What is Ojja (Shakshuka)?
Some call it ojja, others call it shakshuka, shakshouka, shakshoukeh, jazz-mazz, or makhlama. Here is a dish that appears in the hit parade of Tunisian cuisine.
The basis of this recipe is simple: tomato, peppers, onion, garlic, and spices, all topped with eggs that will be, according to taste, poached, well-cooked, or in between. Some bake it in the oven. Others cook it on the stove.
So, Ojja Or Shakshuka?
Some Tunisian purists will say that ojja is prepared only with garlic and without onion and that shakshuka is prepared with both. And others will say that it’s the same thing.
In her book “The New Mediterranean Jewish Table: Old world recipes for the modern home”, the author, Joyce Goldstein, suggests that the difference between ojja and shakshuka is that in the ojja, the eggs are mixed with the tomato sauce, while in the shakshuka, they are poached on the surface. This would make ojja the twin of the Turkish dish called menemen.
Shakshuka has become one of the most delicious dishes of traditional Israeli cuisine today, and even a mainstay of this cuisine. It is consumed for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and many consider it one of the tastiest dishes.
In Israel, it has become wildly popular in the last 20 years. There are also several restaurants in the country where it can be found in all its forms.
This rise is partly thanks to Mr. Bino Gabso, also known as “Dr. Shakshouka”.
Bino Gabso / בינו גבסו (born in 1952) is an Israeli restaurateur known to the public as “Dr. Shakshouka” and the owner of the famous restaurant chain of the same name. Gabso is from Tripoli, Libya.
Dr. Shakshuka is an institution in Israel. Bino Gabso started with the Tripolitan version of shakshuka and has been serving it for more than 20 years. In the traditional Tripolitan version, there is no onion but just garlic and cumin as only spices.
Yotham Ottolonghi, the famous Israeli-British chef also put shakshuka on the map in the late 2000s.
Where Does Shakshuka Come From?
Everyone will try to claim the paternity of this widely popular dish. However, the majority of food historians seem to agree that shakshuka is a North African dish, originating from Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, and Algeria.
Even though shakshuka is ubiquitous in Israel, it was introduced to Israeli cuisine by North African Jews who immigrated to the Holy Land.
The Tunisian Jews brought with them their deliciously spicy egg dish. And the Algerian, Libyan and Moroccan Jews did it too, but in a less spicy version. This is surely what explains the many versions of this dish in Israel.
Another version of the story says that it may come from the Ottoman Empire and spread to Spain and the Middle East. This version is corroborated by a Turkish dish called menamen, which looks very similar to shakshuka.
In Israel, people prepare shakshuka of all kinds. Some add eggplants, or mushrooms, others mix sausages and merguez or serve it on a bed of hummus, a version of the dish that is very famous in the country, and that is called hmsokh.
There is also the version with feta which is called “shakshuka of the Balkans”, and is pretty much the same as Bulgarian mish-mash.
The Italians also have their version of this recipe. Indeed, in the south of Italy, a dish called “eggs in hell” (uova all’inferno) or “eggs in purgatory” (uova al purgatorio) is very similar to shakshuka is prepared with a spicy tomato sauce seasoned with basil with eggs also placed and cooked on top.
Ojja (Shakshuka) Recipe
The essential ingredient of the this recipe is tomato and, of course, it is recommended to use fresh ones.
It seems that the Tunisians have more appetite when they “see red” on their plate! This explains the presence of tomato and/or tomato paste and harissa on a number of their plates.
The traditional preparation is to spread the tomatoes on wooden boards all summer to get the concentrate by evaporation.
6 lb (3 kg) of fresh tomatoes are required to obtain 1 lb (500 g) of double concentrate and 9 lb (4 kg) of fresh tomatoes for the triple concentrate.
Moroccans call it tchouktchouka. However, the Moroccan tchouktchouka is prepared without pepper and only with garlic.
The tomato sauce is flavored with paprika in Morocco. usually, only a pinch of cumin is placed on each egg yolk. As for the chili pepper, it’s according to your taste. The traditional Moroccan tchouktchouka may be spicy or not.
IF you love this dish, you might also love my Tajin Sibnekh Recipe. Be sure to recreate this incredible delicacy. Bon appétit!
TUNISIAN OJJA
Ingredients
- ½ Teaspoon Coriander Seeds
- ½ Teaspoon Caraway Seeds
- ½ Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Yellow Onion, diced
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, stem and seeds removed and diced
- 5 Cloves Garlic, peeled and minced
- 3 Medium Whole Tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 2 Tablespoons Harissa
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cayenne Pepper (more or less to taste)
- 5 Merguez Sausages, precooked, cut into bite size pieces
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 4 EggsChopped Parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Toast the coriander, caraway, and cumin in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant. Grind the spices in a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
- Saute the onion and pepper in olive oil and a pinch of salt in a large skillet over medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook a few minutes more until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, harissa, cayenne, and sausages. Bring to a simmer and simmer for a few minutes.
- You can either mix the eggs into the sauce or cook them whole on the surface for an attractive presentation. Both methods are used in Tunisia. I prefer leaving them whole with soft yolks. To do so, create four small indentations in the surface of the ojja with a large ladle. Crack an egg into each. Reduce heat to low and cover with a lid. Allow to eggs to cook until whites are set but yolks are still soft. Garnish with parsley.
