In Odessa, eggplants are called blue. That’s what they say: blue or little blue caviar. This method is distinguished by its simplicity and the feeling of freshness that fresh tomatoes give any vegetable salad. So, another recipe from international Odessa cuisine, telling how to make eggplant caviar.
Required Products
To make eggplant caviar in Odessa style, you need eggplants, tomatoes and onions. Only blue ones are subject to heat treatment, and since the ideal proportion is considered to be in which there are as many of them as tomatoes, then, given the reduction in weight during baking, you need to take a little more of them. So, for every medium-sized eggplant you should buy one large steppe tomato. If you take three pieces, you get about a kilogram of each. For a large bowl with a capacity of three to four liters you need one onion. You will also need sunflower oil, one hundred and fifty grams, as well as salt. Additional ingredients such as garlic, sweet and hot peppers are possible, but not required - it depends on taste and personal preference.
Baking eggplants
Baking eggplants can be done in the oven or on the stove in a large frying pan covered with a lid. Usually their tail is cut off, but this is not necessary. It is advisable that this happens under slight pressure, but if the blue ones are good, ripe and not very large, then they will bake without it. The eggplants will bake for about twenty minutes, you will have to turn them over a couple of times. Readiness occurs at the moment when the peel on them begins to burst, and steam comes out from inside and juice flows. At this point, the heating should be stopped, the eggplants should be removed with a spatula, placed on a kitchen board and lightly pressed with a lid from a frying pan or saucepan to create conditions for the juice to drain (it is quite bitter). In addition, now they need to be allowed to cool to make peeling easier.
Slicing tomatoes, onions and everything else
The baking time can be used to prepare the remaining ingredients. Eggplant caviar in Odessa is made without the help of a grater, meat grinder or other mechanical grinders. Only one tool is used - a knife. They should be used to cut tomatoes and onions. You can immediately add salt to the mixture of tomatoes and onions, and generously - Odessa-style eggplant caviar loves salt. You can also add finely chopped garlic and pepper, one or two types, but this is optional. If you have to talk to someone, or even kiss someone, it is better to avoid garlic.
Final phase of the process
Now that all the labor-intensive part of the work is done, all that remains is a mere trifle: peel the eggplants and cut them. It would be inconvenient to do this with hot blue ones, but they have already cooled down. After cutting to the same size as the rest of the ingredients, they should be added to a common bowl. All that remains is to pour in the oil, preferably market oil, dark yellow and fragrant, and mix everything with a large spoon. Freshly prepared eggplant caviar tastes best while it is still warm. It should not be stored for a long time; even in the refrigerator it lasts no more than two days. It’s clear how to prepare eggplant caviar, but how to eat it? Whatever! Odessa etiquette does not provide for restrictions, you can put it on bread, be it black or white, or just eat it with a spoon, it’s whatever you want. By the way, there are no quantitative limits either; the main thing is to eat caviar with pleasure and do not forget to praise the person who prepared it. Bon appetit!
Odessa-style eggplant caviar can be prepared according to different recipes, but its essence lies in the fact that it is prepared from baked eggplants and raw vegetables. The main component is eggplant, and the rest is according to your preference. For this caviar I try to take blue round ones called the hybrid variety “Bourgeois”, since they have practically no bitterness.
Odessa-style eggplant caviar also includes sweet red and green bell peppers, onions, young zucchini, garlic and fresh tomatoes. And seasonings, spices, green stuff are taken according to your taste. The secret product in this caviar is the small content of white horseradish root, which stimulates the appetite and helps kill pathogenic microbes due to phytoncides. Which helps to extend the shelf life of cold snacks.
It differs from the one we prepare in the usual way, in that some of the products here are baked in the oven, and the rest are used raw. And also, the fact that all the vegetables included in the composition are cut into small crumbs, and are not passed through a meat grinder.
Here I’ll immediately make a reservation that such a cold appetizer turns out to be very tasty, appetizing and healthy for our body. Nothing fried, just eat and enjoy. I will also say that after eating a cooked batch of eggplant caviar, I want to cook it several times.
Composition of raw materials for eggplant caviar in Odessa style
- blue ones - three pieces;
- zucchini - 1 small size;
- ripe tomatoes - 3 fruits;
- sweet pepper - 3-4 peppercorns;
- garlic - 2 cloves;
- horseradish root - crushed 3-4 teaspoons;
- fresh dill - 1 bunch;
- vegetable oil - 3 tablespoons;
- salt, paprika - at your discretion.
Technology for preparing eggplant caviar in Odessa
First, you should prepare all the ingredients for preparing the snack.
After this time, remove all vegetables from skins and seeds. True, some of them remain with eggplants, since it is difficult to free them from small seeds.
Then finely chop the eggplant and pepper pulp.
Then chop the white onion.
Then remove the skins from the tomatoes and chop them into small cubes. Important! Tomatoes need to be tasty, sweet and preferably homemade.
Place prepared tomatoes, onions and peppers and eggplants in a bowl.
Remove the zucchini from the oven, cut into several pieces and remove the thin skin from the surface.
Next, chop the horseradish root and garlic into fine crumbs.
At the end, sprinkle with chopped dill, season with salt and sweet paprika.
At the final stage, add vegetable or olive oil and mix effectively.
Place the finished caviar in glass jars and put it in the refrigerator so that it infuses and you can test the taste.
It is perfect for fried meat, shish kebab, or even just as a spread on rye bread. And now everyone, bon appetit, share your caviar recipes, write to all questions, I will answer with great pleasure.
Eggplant caviar is a dish that smells from every Odessa apartment and home in the summer. Previously, when all the families in the yard communicated, they often prepared food together and celebrated something or simply had dinner right in the yard, at a large set table, like one big family. Everyone brought something of their own - delicious. Almost every courtyard had a designated area for food preparation, where they prepared barbecue, fish, freshly caught mussels or “blue caviar.” There was a special iron sheet for her, on which vegetables were baked until cooked, and on another, the same one, mussels were cooked. Every year there are fewer and fewer such courtyards; some leave forever, others move to new buildings. I want to show you a recipe for Odessa eggplant caviar, prepared at home, which will be as close as possible to the original, which my beloved neighbor Rosa Naumovna once prepared.
To prepare eggplant caviar in Odessa, take the products according to the list. Vegetables should be washed under running water.
Eggplants and peppers need to be heavily scorched over a gas burner, so they will acquire the smell and taste of a fire. Transfer to a baking dish and cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 180 degrees in convection mode. You can, of course, cook them on a gas burner until done, but be prepared for the fact that after the first eggplant is cooked, the neighbors will call the fire department)))
While the vegetables are roasting, finely chop the onion.
Tomatoes need to be cut into four parts, grated on a coarse grater, and the skins should be discarded. Add grated tomato and a little salt to the onion. While the vegetables are baking, the onions will marinate.
Cool the prepared vegetables slightly, remove the skins - they are easy to peel. If this procedure is difficult with pepper, put it in a thick plastic bag for a while, and the skin will be easy to peel.
Squeeze out excess liquid from the eggplants and chop them into large cubes with a knife along with the pepper.
Add the tomato with onion, pressed garlic and chopped cilantro.
Season with vegetable oil, add salt to taste, stir. The caviar should remain in large pieces, then all the flavors of the vegetables will be preserved, although I know families who grind eggplant caviar in a meat grinder. But, to be honest, this is a completely different taste and appearance.
Serve Odessa eggplant caviar with meat, fish, potatoes, and don’t forget about the freshest bread.
Odessa style eggplant caviar is ready. Have fun!
Today, thanks to the film “Liquidation,” even babies know that eggplants in Odessa are called “little blue.”
And no matter how simple a dish eggplant caviar is, it is about the Odessa “blue caviar” that verses are composed.
Perhaps it’s time for me to talk about real Odessa caviar!
Summer, Odessa, a dim kitchen in an Odessa communal apartment, six primus stoves, and a grandmother in an apron at the rickety kitchen table sorting out purchases brought from Privoz... My happy Odessa childhood - that’s what blue caviar is for me!
First of all, we need eggplants. Summer, dark purple, tight and heavy.
We will not chase large and thick eggplants; we will choose not very large, smooth and shiny ones, with a green “cap” confirming their freshness.
We also need tomatoes - red, ripe, with sugar pulp. The most delicious tomatoes in my life were Odessa steppe tomatoes: small, bright red fruits with a green crown. No, no, let’s just take good tomatoes, after all, where is Odessa and where am I today...
Fresh garlic, red sweet onions - let's stock up on these absolutely necessary ingredients.
What else? Vegetable oil! No, not the sexless and tasteless stuff that fills the shelves today. And even the noble cold-pressed olive oil that is not fashionable today. We need sunflower oil from roasted seeds. Natural, Ukrainian or Kuban, aromatic and incredibly tasty.
Also have a decent sized piece of foil on hand. A knife – preferably wooden or plastic, fortunately there is plenty of this stuff in stores today.
And finally, and most importantly, we need live fire. Gas stove or barbecue, even just a fire.
No ovens, no dividers - just an open flame.
Can you imagine an Odessa woman with her temperament and generous body blazing with the heat of the southern sun, languidly baking eggplants in the oven? I beg you - real Odessa residents do not prepare blue caviar like this.
Start by folding a piece of foil in half to make a square approximately 30cm by 30cm. Make a hole of the required size in the center of the square and place this “apron” under the most powerful burner of your gas stove. Fold the edges of the foil upward slightly. A little later you will understand why I recommend doing this.
Turn on the gas at full power. Wash the eggplant, dry it and place it directly on an open fire.
Now let the fire thoroughly roast the side of the eggplant. Don’t worry, oddly enough, there will be no smoke or burning in the kitchen, the skin of the eggplant is thin and the flesh is juicy, so the skin will burn without smoke.
Turn the eggplant from side to side until the juice inside it boils and begins to break out, and steam flows from the depths of the eggplant pulp.
And here he is, a handsome man exuding the aroma of smoke, ready! This happens quite quickly, within 10 - 20 minutes.
Quickly transfer the eggplant to the board and pour water into the bowl - or turn on the tap if you don't have a meter.
Remove the burnt skin by dipping your hands in water. Hot? Be patient! Help yourself with a small knife or spoon.
Real Odessa caviar requires sacrifice!
But your reward will be amazingly colored pulp! Not gray, not brown - but just like this, white and golden. And keep in mind, it won’t darken later if you continue to act correctly.
If there is a little black skin left, it is not a problem. It is edible, will give a brighter smoky taste, and you can then remove it from the caviar.
Now chop the clean pulp on the board with a knife.
Are you ready? Transfer the caviar to a plate, add salt and generously splash in the oil. Don't count calories, this is not the case. You can’t spoil porridge and Odessa blue caviar with butter!
Already in this form she is divine! But this is still a semi-finished product.
Now the caviar needs to be seasoned with tomatoes.
Everything is extremely simple. Take a grater with large holes. As they say in Odessa – “buryachnaya”.
Wash the tomato and cut it in half. Place the cut tomato on the grater blade.
Lightly press the tomato with your hand so that it fits snugly against the grater, and rub the pulp until only the skin remains in your hands.
And work carefully, carefully, don’t rush. There is absolutely no need to rub your fingers; press the tomato onto the grater with your open palm!
If the eggplant is small and the tomato is large and watery, do not grate it directly into the bowl with caviar. Grate it into a bowl, drain the pulp in a colander and let the juice drain. Add some pulp and taste. And so bring the dish to your taste.
If the tomato is too watery, and you are also an esthete, you can squeeze out some of the juice with the seeds before grating the tomato. It's clear that I don't do this. Am I from Odessa or where?!
Chop the garlic as you like.
Grandmother ground garlic with salt. And I have a lot of different devices for garlic.
Here is a Swedish grater, a gift from a friend.
Here is a box of cloves for grinding garlic - a gift from a friend.
But my favorite “garlic grass”, she is about 30 years old, and is not demolished.
As for the onion, it is not required here. You can get by with just garlic. However, I love onions. I chop it finely, throw it in cold water for a second and then wring it out in a towel.
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