Among my favorite foods (I know that I’ve already listed a few in these posts) is shakshuka. Shakshuka is a North African dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce. Many North African communities claim to be the originators of shakshuka, coming from the Arabic for mixture. Moroccan, Tunisian, Libyan, Turkish, and Yemenite communities have all incorporated it into their regular diets.
Dr. Shakshuka, a restaurant in Jaffa, owned and operated by Bino Gabso, aka Dr. Shakshuka, claims to be the purveyor of the original Tripolitan version of the dish. No matter what its origins might be, the food is absolutely delicious.
The first thing to arrive is a selection of salads, which could be a meal by themselves. The first was a cabbage in vinegar slaw. It was followed by an Israeli salad, made with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and parsley. The third was a cabbage, carrots, and red pepper slaw.
This was followed by a Libyan pumpkin tershi or chershi, an incredibly tasty dip of pureed pumpkin, lots of garlic, lemon, harissa, and other spices. It was followed by boiled potatoes that had been cooked in a spicy sauce.
A fried eggplant salad and a garlic dip finished off the salad dishes.
The shakshuka itself was served in an individualized cast iron pan. The sauce was spicy, but not excessively hot or sharp. You could taste the tomato, onion, garlic, sweet and hot peppers, and the paprika. The white of the eggs was cooked through, but the yolks remained runny.
There were thick pieces of a partially cut loaf of bread for sopping up the shakshuka or any of the salads.
A refreshingly sweet cup of lemonade accompanied the meal and I ordered a cup of Turkish coffee as well.
I left satisfied and completely stuffed. It was an excellent meal.
My Journey to Israel: Connections and Disruptions 