Chargrilled Eggplant Salad

I think I mentioned before how, even after almost 10 years of living Down Under, my body clock is still getting confused when the calendar hits July and with it peaks the cold and misery of winter.

July is the middle of summer in another part of the world where I grew up and where it is all about long sunny days full of swimming, eating and relaxing (not necessarily in that particular order) and cool breezy evenings with long dinners and conversations around the table till the early hours of the morning.

Naturally, when July arrives, rather than layering up like a cabbage to keep warm, I want to shed everything off and spend the whole day lazing around in a pair of swimmers and a sarong to soak up the sun.

It does not help when, on each phone conversation, my dad religiously reports the temperature and wind conditions for the day in Cesme and how they are planning to take the boat out in a couple of hours, or when mum gives me a detailed list of what she has just bought "soooo fresh" from the markets and is cooking for dinner.

I desperately long for the early morning rises to rush to the markets that are set up in one of the villages (depending on what day of the week it is, there are 5-6 different village markets a week selling from fresh produce to clothes, homewares to spare parts in Cesme) when the day is still cool and the stalls are not packed with other shoppers.

As I wake up to yet another cold July morning, come to work and start typing yet another long email, my imagination gets the best of me and I find myself drifting away into another time zone, where I spend hours and hours, in and out of the market stalls, mesmerised how cheap, fresh, tasty and in abundance everything is. 

A vegetable stall in Alacati Market

I stroll around the market lingering from stall to stall, looking for the freshest produce, touching, smelling and sometimes tasting to make sure that they are worth the price. Piles and piles of sun-ripened bright red tomatoes, firm and juicy Lebanese cucumbers with their orange flowers still attached, beans and okra that are just picked from the fields that very morning and eggplants with their shiny deep purple skins line up as far as the eyes can see. 

Cobs of sweet corn

One corn stall owner claims his corn is the sweetest. He even places a huge evil eye on display to protect them from the envy and dislike of other sellers and shoppers.

The seller two stalls down swears his carrots contain all the vitamins from A to K and insists you try one and you will instantaneously feel them work their magic.

Another one halves a slice of a rock melon for you to try and confirm "Is it not the tastiest?"      

Fresh local herbs

Next stop is a stall where an abundance of fresh herbs such as cantarion, dandelion, parsley, mint and some other local varieties are piled up in bundles. 

I cannot help but touch and smell every bunch of colour and texture on display before I buy large bunches of flat leaf parsley, rocket, mint and dill to accompany the dishes I will cook later on.



As I am heading back home for a quick dip in the water before I sink my teeth into one of my dad's famous toasted sandwiches for breakfast, I think of all the possible dishes I could make with the bags and bags of vegetables and fruits I just purchased.

In that other parallel, eggplants are always in season and this particular day calls for a beautiful eggplant salad to go with the cubes of lamb that are currently marinating and tenderising in the fridge for dinner.

All of a sudden my work day does not seem as cold, miserable and insignificant any more, because I now have something to look forward to. With a mischievous smile on my face I wait for the clock to tick 5pm so I can head home and put my plan in action.

This particular eggplant salad requires slightly more work than the one I normally make but the addition of tomatoes and chargrilled capsicum makes it a special treat and worth the effort. This creation is a courtesy of my PIC (partners in crime), my mother and our lovely friend Annie who is our next door neighbour in Cesme. I simply call them "my guerilla bloggers" as they spend most of their time together plotting and planning new recipe ideas for Zep's Table.

Patlican Salatasi (Chargrilled Eggplant Salad)

Ingredients:

3 large eggplants
6 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon salt, plus extra to season
4 medium green capsicums
2 large tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Here is how:

Prepare a charcoal grill, or heat the oven to 210 degrees (fan forced).

Using the tip of a skewer or fork, poke 4-5 cm deep holes all over the eggplants to allow the heat to get into the whole eggplant.

Grill them over the charcoal fire, turning occasionally, for about 20 minutes, or until they completely collapse. Alternatively, place them in a baking pan and bake for about 40 minutes in the oven. Let them cool.

Carefully scoop out the flesh of the eggplants into a bowl. Mix it with 3 tablespoon of the lemon juice and set aside for 10 minutes.

Grill the capsicums for 8 minutes, turning occasionally, until they blacken completely. If using the oven, cook them for 15 minutes.

Place the capsicums in a plastic bag, tie up the top and set aside for about 10 minutes to loosen their skin in their own steam. Then remove the tops and the seeds, peel the skin and chop them into tiny pieces.

Transfer the eggplant flesh to a strainer, and squeeze out the excess liquid.

Meanwhile, peel, seed and finely chop the tomatoes; peel and finely mince the garlic.

Once drained, roughly chop the eggplant flesh and mix it with the capsicums, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and the remaining lemon juice. Season with salt.

Stir gently, cover the bowl, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Garnish with finely chopped parsley. Serve chilled.

Afiyet Olsun!


* The photos in this post are taken by my dear friend and artist Annie Zeybekoglu, who has an amazing ability to see the beauty in all the little things and misses the Turkish summers as much as I do in winter time.