As mentioned in yesterday’s recipe, I have a second recipe for you from the movie Love at Four Hands. I couldn’t resist the temptation to try cooking cocoa eggplant caponata, the main recipe from the film, one of the family recipes Chef Gavin Bloom keeps secretly in his notebook. And it will become a successful recipe after appearing in The Chicago Post, and after being the subject of intellectual theft by an ambitious and opportunistic food critic.
If you’re curious to know more about this film, and the reasons why I’m dedicating myself to this series of recipes from romantic (or B-grade romantic) movies, I invite you to read my article dedicated to this movie, Love at Four Hands, and then also Lucius Etruscus’s article, who joins me on his blog Il Zinefilo in this fun culinary-cinematic journey.
So, after having breakfast with the two-tone scones (good, right? 😊), how about preparing lunch by cooking a cocoa eggplant caponata?
You have plenty of time to cook it, and to enjoy it immediately warm or lukewarm (it’s delicious!). But know that it’s incredibly good even cold, guaranteed by personal experience!
If you already have other plans for lunch, prepare it now anyway so that you’ll have a great cocoa eggplant caponata ready for dinner, and enjoy a feast. 😋
I first heard of cocoa eggplant caponata when I first watched Love at Four Hands. A TV movie of minimal cinematic value, but one that’s dear to my heart for reasons I shared in yesterday’s article, to which I refer you again.
I mean no offense to Sicilians, but really, at my ripe age, I had no idea that eggplant caponata enriched with cocoa was a real recipe. At that moment, that is during the film, I thought it was just an audacious trick of the screenwriter. 😅😃
Given that it was a vaguely improbable film, I thought it was an appropriate recipe, sufficiently unusual to be included in a film that, like all romantic comedies, floats halfway between romantic and fanciful… in short, it made sense for an American chef to invent adding cocoa to eggplant. Right? 😁
But then I found out that the recipe exists. And after trying to educate myself on cocoa and dark chocolate eggplant caponatas, by reading various articles and recipes found online (take a look yourselves, for example here, here, and here), I gave it a try. Trying to cook exactly the recipe from the film (I only modified it slightly!).
The ingredients are identified from a freeze-frame of the chef’s notebook (then later I’ll show you a frame), but it is a recipe (as I then discovered) that can be interpreted in many variants. And, considering how much I (we) liked this version, I’m sure they are all equally delicious.
Really delicious. What a great idea to add cocoa to the caponata!
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👇 Below I leave you the links to the first two romantic recipes from this somewhat special series that I am pursuing with passion and true enjoyment.
And I will also leave you the link to the caponata from my home (which we actually call peperonata, or pastrocchio), the one my mom taught me, therefore very Romagna-style and different from the Sicilian one, but I recommend you try both! 👇
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 10 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 3
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Region: Sicily
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
👉 As anticipated in the introduction, I tried to follow the movie recipe as closely as possible, just as it appears in the sequence where the notebook is left unattended at the mercy of the culinary critic who will later steal it.
👉 I slightly personalized the recipe, based on the availability of ingredients I had at home, and added an ingredient that was missing here, but which I saw used in all the recipes I consulted: vinegar.
- 14 oz eggplants
- 1 red onion (about 3.5 oz)
- 7 oz tomato passata (or chopped tomato pulp)
- 2 leaves bay leaves
- 1 oz raisins
- 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsps white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Tools
- Pan
- Small Bowl
How to Prepare Cocoa Eggplant Caponata
Cut the eggplant into pieces (or eggplants, depending on size).
Cook with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a non-stick pan, with a closed lid, for about 15 minutes.
☝ No, my eggplants are not fried, I never fry. And besides, Chef Gavin writes in the notebook “roast the eggplant” for 30 minutes, although for me 15 minutes were sufficient.
When the eggplant is cooked, set it aside (in a plate or container).
Meanwhile, in the same pan used for cooking the eggplant, pour a tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the chopped onion for 5 minutes (as per the chef’s recipe) or sliced (as I preferred to do).
Add the bay leaves and the raisins, previously soaked for about ten minutes (however, I used a smaller quantity of raisins).
After another 5 minutes, pour in the tomato passata.
👉 Chef Gavin’s recipe called for “chopped tomato,” i.e., canned tomato chunks, I used the passata because that was all I had available, but I’m sure the tomato is fine in any form, even fresh chunks.
Cook for 15-20 minutes over high heat, then add the previously cooked eggplant.
Mix and continue cooking for 5-10 minutes, or until you get a dry caponata.
Now prepare the cocoa:
Pour two tablespoons of white vinegar into a small bowl and add the cocoa.
Stir well until the cocoa is dissolved.
Pour the cocoa and vinegar mixture into the caponata.
Stir again, turn off the heat, close the lid, and let it sit for about ten minutes.
The cocoa eggplant caponata is ready to be served.
It’s excellent hot, I liked it very much. But it’s just as good cold, or better at room temperature.
So it’s worth doubling the quantities to enjoy it both immediately and the next day!
Enjoy your meal!
Salt-Free Tips
As you know, I cook without salt. Therefore, I didn’t add salt to this cocoa eggplant caponata either.
👉 Although the presence of raisins may suggest excessive sweetness in the recipe, in reality, the unsweetened cocoa and vinegar balance the sweetness of the raisins. Furthermore, the bitterness of the eggplant (which I never brine with salt) makes the flavor of this excellent caponata well-balanced. 😋
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Gradually decrease salt, the palate needs to get accustomed gradually and should not notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili pepper, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruits. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my salt-free vegetable granules and gomasio.
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water, prefer cooking that does not disperse flavors (grill, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Occasionally indulge in a rule break. It’s good for the mood and helps perseverance.
If you do not want or cannot give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes by salting them according to your habits.
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In my new WhatsApp channel and on Instagram, on the Facebook page and Pinterest, in my two groups: Catia’s group, in the kitchen and beyond and Just what I was looking for! and if you like… subscribe to my Newsletter.
