The surprising origin of one of Australia’s breakfast favourites

The dish: Shakshuka, Morocco

Plate up

You probably don’t think of this as African cuisine. You probably don’t go down to your local cafe on a Sunday morning feeling like African. But that’s what one of Australia’s most popular brunch staples is: African. We’re talking shakshuka, the dish of spiced tomato sugo with sauteed onion and capsicum that’s baked in a shallow pan with raw eggs, which gently poach.

Brekkie favourite with surprise origins.Credit: Getty Images

After cooking to a point of set whites and runny yolks, the whole lot is topped with fresh herbs and served with crusty bread. Shakshuka is wildly popular throughout North Africa, and indeed all the way into the Middle East. Its origin helps explain the common mix of spices in the rich tomato sauce: cumin, paprika and chilli, though you’ll sometimes find ground coriander or whole caraway seeds. This is African food at its finest.

First serve

Though we’ve listed this dish’s origin as Morocco, in truth its evolution is murkier than that. The official birthplace of shakshuka is recognised as “the Maghreb”, a vast swathe of North Africa that includes Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Mauritania. Culinary historians have noted the dish’s similarity to Turkish menemen, another tomato-based egg dish, which suggests the idea might have been adapted from Ottoman traditions. Indeed, there are stewed, tomato-based dishes throughout the Mediterranean, including one from Turkey called saksuka, which suggests a culinary criss-cross that took place over centuries. The same dish in Spain is called “huevos a la flamenca”; in Italy it’s “uovo in purgatorio”, or eggs in purgatory.

Order there

It’s not difficult to find a cafe or restaurant serving shakshuka in Morocco. If you’re in Marrakesh, call in to the ever-popular Cafe Clock to sample their version (cafeclock.com).

Order here

In Sydney, you can’t go past Kepos Street Kitchen for a cracking version of shakshuka (keposstreetkitchen.com.au). In Melbourne meanwhile, try Bowery to Williamsburg, which has the option to add Italian meatballs, grilled halloumi, or silken tofu (bowerytowilliamsburg.com.au).

Cook it

Read Adam Liaw’s recipe for green shakshuka with hummus on Good Food here.

One more thing

Australians have a thing about eggs: they’re a breakfast food. You don’t eat poached eggs for dinner, which is why shakshuka has come to be thought of as early-morning cuisine. In its home, however, in North Africa, you can expect to be served shakshuka in the evening.