What: The shakshouka
Where: The Thirsty Palms, 134 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
How much: $16
Contact: 760-330-5911; thethirstypalms.com
Why: It’s a perfect dish, beautifully presented
It sounds so deceptively simple: Take a sauce made with roasted garlic and San Marzano tomatoes. In that sauce, poach two fresh eggs, and then top it all with feta cheese. Serve it with some delicious bread—and you have shakshouka.
And if you’re dining at The Thirsty Palms, you have some really amazing shakshouka.
The Thirsty Palms opened late last year in downtown Palm Springs, taking over the space long occupied by Peabody’s. The place, which has been spruced-up nicely, serves lunch and dinner six days a week, plus breakfast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Take note: While shakshouka is considered an evening dish in much of Northern Africa and the Middle East, it’s only on the breakfast menu at The Thirsty Palms. Thankfully, our inaugural visit to The Thirsty Palms took place during the late morning on a Saturday, and everything we had was stellar, from the peppery Bloody Mary to the ricotta cakes ($15)—pancakes covered in an orange glaze.
The Thirsty Palms’ lunch and dinner menu, while somewhat limited—featuring pizzas, salads and a half-dozen entrées—is intriguing; I look forward to stopping in for dinner and trying the pork schnitzel ($20) or perhaps the “land and sea” (with veal, wild Mexican prawns and cauliflower puree; $38).
Or, alternately, I may try to talk them into adding the shakshouka to the lunch/dinner menu. I ordered the ricotta cakes, and while they were endorsement-worthy themselves, I must admit that I felt some envy as I watched Garrett enjoy the shakshouka. He was kind enough to give me several bites, and it was perfect: The savory, perfectly seasoned sauce’s acidity was beautifully balanced by the perfectly poached egg yolks.
Mmmmmm.