Ojja

Ojja is eggs cracked directly into a simmering, harissa-spiced tomato and pepper sauce with merguez, cooked just until the whites set and the yolks stay soft. It shares a family resemblance with shakshuka, but the harissa and merguez push it hotter and more overtly spiced than its Egyptian relative.

What it really is

Merguez sausage browns first, rendering its fat into the base of the sauce, before tomato, pepper and a generous spoonful of harissa go in and simmer down into something thick and fiery. Eggs crack directly into the hot sauce and cook right there in the pan, covered just long enough for the whites to set while the yolks stay loose, breaking into the sauce the moment a piece of bread is torn through.

The harissa is dosed heavier here than in most other North African egg dishes. Ojja is meant to run properly hot, and a version toned down to be gentle has drifted toward shakshuka rather than staying true to what makes ojja itself.

How it is served

• Straight from the pan it cooked in, still bubbling.
• With crusty bread for tearing and scooping.
• As a main course, rarely split into smaller starter portions.

How to write it on the menu

• Flag the eggs.
• Rate the heat honestly, since the harissa dose here runs hotter than many guests expect from an egg dish.
• Say if a version without merguez is offered, since a vegetarian ojja built on peppers and tomato alone is common too.