Shakshouka always comes out in a skillet. My best friend, Amanda, makes the BEST shakshouka! I asked her how she best prepares it. She chops two tomatoes, half an onion, and three cloves of garlic. She then fries the onion and garlic until they become fragrant and adds the tomatoes and tomato sauce (canned) and cooks it until it bubbles. Then she takes a spoon, makes a space, and gently plops an egg in. She repeats this until all the eggs she wants to prepare are in. The eggs shouldn’t touch each other. She then adds salt and pepper and closes the lid on the pan until the whites of the egg are visible. She says that the shakshouka is ready when you lift the cover and you shake the pan a little and the egg whites are not runny but the yolks still jiggle. You should serve the dish immediately in the skillet. She likes to eat it with Ezekiel bread and avocado.
I do not believe that this dish is connected to the local environment (at least that I know of), but it is connected to the culture. Typical breakfast food in Turkey is very different from that at home. Israelis eat a lot of savory foods for breakfast. When one is craving waffles or pancakes for breakfast, it might be a little harder to find a restaurant. Some other typical breakfast foods include an Israeli salad, which consists of chopped cucumbers and tomatoes, bread along with some spreads, or barukas, which are savory pastries often served with cheese or potatoes.
