Cool Eggplant Meze

Easy and delicious, prepared well in advance to enjoy any time of day.

It is not an exaggeration to say that each Greek cook and professional chef has her or his particular recipe for melitzanosalata (eggplant spread).

Some are creamy with mayonnaise, others tangy with yogurt, or intense with spicy additions to the grilled and smoky eggplant pulp.

Mine is fresh-tasting and green, with the addition of olive-oil-fried peppers and plenty of parsley added to the eggplants I grill on the griddle until their skins get black and the flesh intensely smoky (scroll down for the recipe).

At a Kea tavern last year —I forget which one— the roasted eggplant was mixed with plenty of garlic, pickled cucumbers, and red, spicy pepper.

At Bobena, an Athenian fish tavern that has now changed its name, the chef chopped and dressed tableside the charred, smoky eggplant.

For us, Greeks, as for people around the Eastern Mediterranean, eggplants are the king of summer vegetables, cooked in a multitude of ways, even made into sugary preserves, when small and unripe.

When we planted white eggplants in the garden, a few years ago, I finally understood why aubergines —as they are called in the UK and France— got their American name, as the little white vegetables looked exactly like eggs. And their flowers are truly beautiful!

“Most commonly purple, the spongy, absorbent fruit is used in several cuisines. It is a berry by botanical definition. As a member of the genus Solanum, it is related to the tomato, chili pepper, and potato, although those are of the Americas region while the eggplant is of the Eurasia region,” Wikipedia tell us.

Native to south Asia, it still grows wild there. The kinds we cultivate now were introduced to Europe by the Arabs first in the Iberian Peninsula, and adopted enthusiastically by the Christian and Muslim populations, probably around the 8th century.

Beside us Greeks, Italians, Spanish, Turks and all the inhabitants of the Eastern Mediterranean love eggplants. We prepare them in a million ways by themselves or in combination with tomatoes and all other summer vegetables and grains.

It came to me as a shock when an American friend, by far not a picky eater, told me blandly that she hated eggplants. I had not imagined that anybody could not like them, and I still think that my friend had probably not tried them cooked properly…

Halved, drizzled with olive oil, then grilled over charcoal or close to the hot broiler, I adore the summer eggplants warm or room temperature, simply sprinkled with chopped garlic and parsley. This is THE easiest and most delicious meze you can whip up.

Eggplant, Pepper, and Parsley Spread

Makes about 3 1/2 cups, enough for 8-10 people.

2-3 large eggplants (about 2 pounds)

3 tablespoons olive oil