Have you ever tasted eggplant caviar? A cream of oven-baked eggplants that becomes sublime spread on crostini or as a dressing for a quick pasta.

Eggplant caviar is widely used in Provence, and it is the only vegetable preparation that can be called caviar (caviar d’aubergine).

Then naturally every country has its version, and in Lebanese it becomes Baba ganoush (with the addition of tahini) served with pita bread, in Arabic it is called Moutabal with the addition of pomegranate and yogurt. In Armenia, it becomes Patlatchan with cumin, garlic, and onion. In Iran, it is called kashk e bademjan accompanied by fermented milk.

Then we arrive in Turkey with patlıcan salatası which, besides having grilled eggplants, lemon, oil, tahini, green pepper, tomatoes, and garlic, sometimes adds yogurt.

The version from Israel, salat ḥatzilim, is always prepared with grilled eggplants mashed into a puree, with the addition of tahini and garlic. Sometimes instead of tahini, they add mayonnaise.

In Greece, it becomes melitzanosalata with Greek yogurt, while in Macedonia, the Greek yogurt is replaced with a particular goat cheese called sirene and is called malidzano.

How many versions are there for a wonderful and versatile eggplant sauce and cream.

I’ll leave you with a few other eggplant recipes that might interest you: