Every time I make shakshouka, I struggle with getting all the eggs to the right degree of doneness. Very often I end up with some eggs almost hard-boiled while others still have runny whites. I guess it’s the time it takes to get them all into the stew. By the time I crack the last one into its place, the first one has probably had a full minute to cook.

Today I thought I would do something clever. I cracked all six eggs in advance into six cups so that I could then get them all into the tomato sauce really quickly. This way, I thought, they would all start cooking at almost the same time and be done at the same time.

And it made no bloody difference whatsoever. Again two of the eggs were well done while two others were still completely runny! I have no idea why they behave so annoyingly or what to do about it. It’s not like some are closer to the middle and get more heat.