Ajvar, a relish

"Ajvar" is the name of an eggplant-and-pepper relish made in the Balkans. The kind I've seen at the grocery store, and the kind that most recipes on the Internet seem to be for, is a mild-mannered one made with red peppers and tomatoes. It is a very fine accompaniment for cheesy toasts, as my friend and I discovered one happy spring break.

I have Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean Cooking out from the library, and at first I found it intimidating. Her directions are very thorough, and sometimes the ingredient lists make me feel hopelessly aware of how far I am from the Mediterranean. But I keep trying things from it, sometimes with substitutions (especially for specific greens), and more and more I am discovering that I don't have to make as many substitutions as I think, and that the instructions are definitely to be trusted. The results are seriously delicious.

There is a recipe in Mediterranean Cooking for ajvar, but it is not red. It's pale green with sweet and hot green peppers and eggplant, and it is chopped, not pureed. This recipe gives the proportions, but the original has the instructions that insure that it comes out right: you can start the eggplant in the oven but should finish it over coals or a gas flame, and when you have removed the charred skin, squeeze out all the bitter juices before you chop it up; you should add the olive oil a tablespoon at a time, stirring until it's absorbed before you add the next dollop, so that it all is absorbed evenly and fully as it should be.

We had some tonight with frittata, and it was fantastic. It would also plainly be excellent with cheese toast, as a bruschetta topping, on crackers, with white beans, or on your bratwurst. I may have to make a lot more of this.

Comments

[Ray Davis]

Juliet just made her first big batch of ajvar on Sunday from the same recipe. Her first of many. God, that's good Croatian condiment / side-dish.

[redfox]

Boy howdy. I just had some on a cracker and sent some off with S. in his lunch, and now I'm eyeing my jar with trepidation. I think I'd better make a truckload now, buy some canning tongs, and stock my pantry. Maybe then I could bear the thought of sharing.

I wonder if we were in fact making it simultaneously. I thought to make this recipe mainly because it uses green pepper, and we got one in my CSA delivery; normally I am not a big fan of the green pepper -- it seems like a waste of the sweet pepper it could have grown up to be. Now I believe I am going to go out and deliberately buy green peppers. Will wonders never cease?

[aleza]

the link to the recipe you posted doesn't mention eggplant at all! very odd.

you're getting peppers already from your csa? ours is still stuck on lettuce and greens, moving slowly into zucchini land. and kohlrabi. plenty of kohlrabi.

guess that's the difference between nyc and maryland, though.

[redfox]

By God, so it doesn't. Well, it's a pound of eggplant to that quantity of peppers, and 6 tablespoons of olive oil, not three. Really, I should have just recommended that everyone look at the cookbook to start with.

[anita]

hi
i live in germany and i tried the plum cake recipe with german plums it was very very good and simple.thanks