What to do with 19 eggplants

When Harris Farm decides cashing in on Christmas is over- you know you're onto a good thing.  $6.99 for a box of 19 massive eggplant tells me one thing, Christmas has no time for the spongy, oil soaking vegetable.  Well how wrong father Christmas was when compiling his lavish menu, because as far as I'm concerned all my Christmas's and Easters have come at once- all in the shape of giant purple eggs.  

The only issue here is, what do you do with 19 Christmas-neglected eggplants?  Well, i figure the best way to understand Turkish cooking is to understand the eggplant.  What size is your eggplant?  Is it stuff-able?  Is it long and narrow, does it have the whole-roasting qualities?  or is it small and well rounded; good for stuffing it with a compote of goodies? Or is it obese, like its overdosed on hormones; perfect for smoking it on open flames to make into a delectable eggplant puree?  

Well mine were two thirds obese and one third chubby babies.  So on a tiring Tuesday i started with the easiest, most obvious option- Turkish style Moussaka (while the Greeks I'm sure would debate such a thing exists).  Salted and rested the thick slices of eggplant were fried on the BBQ and layered between and mince mixture of lamb, pepper paste, tomato, pine nuts, parsley, wine and a few dried spices.  A white sauce mixed with Parmesan (not quite the Turkish touch i was looking for but it was in the fridge) topped the dish with a sprinkling of bread crumbs.  Now, what would induce a Moussaka-makers death, i put it in the freezer for a lazy day.  

With a couple of the fatter ones, we roasted them into oblivion on the flame of the BBQ and made an Eggplant puree to bed our plain-Jane lamb sausages defrosted from the night before.  The trick among tricks with creating a smokey eggplant flavor is all in the roasting.  By doing it on an open flame you get that rich smokey flavor through the almost melted texture of the eggplant.  When the skin is crackling, looking a little grotesque and eggplant juice squeals out the sides- you know you're onto a good thing. When cool enough,  peal off the skin and drop the frail juicy eggplant into a dish.  All that's need here is some decent olive oil, fresh garlic (only a touch), lemon juice and salt.  If you're feelin fancy chop up some parsley to mix through.  We made ours into more of a mash than a puree, it held up the sausages on an over indulged pedestal and with caramelised onion on top it was enough to make Betty Crocker go 'oooo'.  

Stay tuned for the fate of 5 unsuspecting, plump baby eggplants.....  

An Edible Relaunch

The blog that kept me going through the most tantalising yet tumultuous two years of my life is back.  This time, the trying Turk is in Sydney and comes armed with more Turkishness than ever before.  Can one be a Turk by marriage? Or is one married by Turkishness?  Either way, I now find myself trying to hold onto every little ounce of Turkishness that enters my life.  

When in Istanbul, i would stammer home off the bustling Bosphorus shores of Kadikoy noticing the waft of Hamsi that bounced from fisherman's stores and lambs heads that glared up at me from their suspicious display cabinets.  Most days i reveled in the luscious traditions of Turkish food, but every now and again I craved the most buttered of butter chicken, the crackling that lined the pork roast or just your good old bowl of spaghetti bolognese.   

Now, almost two years since leaving Ms Istanbul behind, I cast my mind back to her decadent undertaking of my innocent, culture-less self.  

5 things Ms Istanbul has taught a trying Turk.

1. How to transform eggplant into countless varieties of heaven.

2. Why waxing your eyebrows is a good thing.

3. The art of drinking raki (ouzo) like a man.

4. The wearing of winter boots like a woman should.

5. How to decline you're third helping of kofte (meatballs)- refuse the offer three times until they trust you've had enough. 

With all five lessons just about mastered, i still have a long way to go.  I figure, the best way to lure elements of life in Turkey into my humble Sydney home is through the tried and tested ways of Turkish culinary culture.   Mixed with a few sideline ambitions, tales of a trying Turk will always wind itself back to the essence of 'Tasting Turkey'.

Stay tuned....