You call them eggplants, I call them aubergines...

I very rarely buy aubergines or eggplants as they are called in the US. I don't really like them, their texture, the way they soak up enormous amounts of oil - I don't even use them when preparing Ratatouille - the mother of all Provençal dishes - and my version tastes just fine without them.
But Istanbul Cooking School where I recently took part in a cooking class sort of converted me. Or, closer to the point, I got totally seduced by this recipe our charming host Oguz taught us. It is called Közde Patlican and is served as one of the wonderful mezze Turkish cuisine excels in. Another plus - it is practically child's play to prepare as long as you have a gas stove or a BBQ.
Just take two or three aubergines and roast them, turning them every so often, until they are really soft and nicely charred on the outside.

 Roast eggplant on a gas fire or BBQ

 

 until nicely soft and lightly charred

 cut open and scoop out the flesh

drizzle with lemon juice so the flesh doesn't turn dark

Then you just chop the flesh with a sharp knife, mix it with one or two very finely minced garlic cloves and a real good dash of olive oil et voilà the Turkish version of what we in Provence call "Caviar d'aubergines"  - the poor man's caviar. Serve with crunchy baguette and a cool glass of Rosé.

Credit for this lovely dish goes to Oguz of Istanbul Cooking School

The Caviar of Provence

Two eggplants - they were supposed to go into a ratatouille, this wonderful Provençal concoction of red peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and eggplants (or aubergines as we call them in Provence) but somehow ended up all alone in the fridge and needed to be saved - fast.

Nicely soft and squishy - roasted eggplants

So I tried out a new recipe for "Caviar d'Aubergines", one of these quintessential Provençal recipes where rather humble ingredients are used to create something truly good. Every Provençal household has at least one recipe for "Caviar d'aubergines" so this one is not the one and only authentic recipe, but one of many, albeit a rather delicious one.

I roasted the eggplats for about 40 minutes in a hot oven, let them cool down, cut them in halves and scraped out the soft flesh. One pressed garlic clove and a few turns of freshly milled pepper later I mixed it all with a handheld mixer, adding just a few drops of olive oil. In there went 10 finely chopped sundried tomatoes (take those that come in an olive oil marinade), and about two tbsp finely chopped capers - stirred in, not mixed. Finally I quickly melted 3 small anchovy fillets in a hot pan and stirred them into the mix - that way you don't need to add salt.

And voilà - Caviar d'Aubergines! To be served on crusty baguette slices with predinner drinks.

Not really pretty but so good: Caviar d'Aubergines