Great Siege monuments are not a typical ingredient of shakshuka, an Israeli chef has confirmed.
Bis-Serjetà reached out to renowned Israeli-English chef Yotam Ottolenghi after the Great Siege monument – which serves as a memorial to Daphne Caruana Galizia – was pelted with eggs and tomato sauce this morning.
Shakshuka is a dish made by poaching eggs in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers and garlic, and is typically eaten as a breakfast meal in Israel.
“I see what they were going for with the eggs and tomato sauce, but I’m not really sure about the monument, Ottolenghi said.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of these people who says you can never alter a traditional dish, but I just don’t think the monument has a flavour profile that matches the rest of the ingredients. Nor does it have the right texture – whereas the eggs and sauce are smooth and creamy, the bronze and granite of the monument are hard and crunchy. Normally we’d eat shakshuka with crusty bread but that’s about it.”
Ottolenghi suggested a better experimental ingredient would be the bottled rage of Labour trolls angry at the Daphne memorial and anti-government protests.
“I think that would add a real umami kick to the dish,” he said.
