Baklazhanna ikra

The story

Baklazhanna ikra, eggplant caviar, is a Ukrainian summer spread, best known in its Odesa version. The name is a joke with a history: in the Russian Empire, people who could not afford fish roe spread chopped eggplant on their bread instead, as the Odessa Journal explains. The same article traces the dish to the mashed eggplant salads the Ottoman Turks carried across lands that reached as far as today's Ukraine, and to the Sephardic Jewish kitchens of cities such as Odesa. In Odesa eggplants are synenki, the little blue ones, and the local version is called ikra from the little blue ones. The restaurateur Savva Libkin, who presents himself as a follower of Odesa cooking, roasts the eggplant whole, chops it by hand with onion, tomato and garlic, and dresses it with sunflower oil. Ukrainian food pages describe the roasted Odesa version as a dish of the summer vegetable season, eaten soon after it is made, while Odesa families also cooked huge batches in summer and canned them for winter. For a dinner for two, set it out with dark rye or crusty bread and a few pickles while the main course finishes. It can be made the day before, which leaves the evening free.