Eggplant caviar in Odessa style
Odessa-style eggplant caviar is a true legend that can tell stories better than Odessa aunts at Privoz!
It's not only the taste, but also the fact that every bite of this dish is filled with the spirit of Odessa: a little smoke from the grill, a little sunshine, a pinch of humor and a generous portion of love.
Just imagine: eggplants must be burnt to the state of "almost ash", because without it you will not get that famous flavor for which eggplant caviar gets applause. Then they are thoroughly peeled, turned into a delicate paste with the addition of delicious fried onions, sweet peppers, tomatoes and, of course, garlic, because Odessa without garlic is like the sea without seagulls!
Ingredients
| eggplants 3 pcs |
| Mikado tomato (large) 1 pc |
| onion (medium) 2 pcs. |
| sunflower oil 2 tbsp. |
| garlic 2-3 cloves |
| parsley greens 0.5 bundle |
| salt to taste |
Instructions
Step 1
Wash the eggplants, split them with a fork or knife so that they do not start to "shoot". Bake in the oven on a baking tray until ready at 200°C. Alternatively, you can bake, turning from side to side, and in a cast-iron skillet under a lid. And ideally - on a charcoal grill: then the caviar will turn out "with smoke".
Step 2
Transfer the cooked eggplants to a board and leave them for 15-20 minutes to drain.
Step 3
Grill the tomatoes of the "Mikado" variety on a grill or in an oven at 200 °C and peel off their skins.
Step 4
Wrap the onions in foil and bake on the coals for 10 minutes or in the oven at 200°C
Step 5
Cool all the vegetables.
Step 6
Chop the eggplant, tomatoes and onion very finely with a knife. Squeeze out the garlic cloves, add to the vegetables and continue chopping until you get the right consistency: almost homogeneous, but not like a mousse. Since we are making caviar, there should be "eggs" in it.
Step 7
Finished caviar is dressed with finely chopped herbs and butter. At the last stage, salt it.
Step 8
If possible, we give the caviar a few hours to insist.
Step 9
Taste for salt before serving.
You can also add a single roasted pepper to the caviar for color, so to speak, but eggplant caviar has a more prominent and distinctive flavor without the pepper.
