The Frugal Gourmet: Eggplant Dip

It's Fahimah, and I'm back with my final post!
I decided to have a touch of adventure with my last blog, and go with a vegetable that I don't necessarily enjoy. That's what turned me to the recipe for Melitzanosalata, or eggplant dip.

My mother hosts parties for our close family friends, and often spends the entire day cooking up a feast for our guests. She usually asks me for help making some sort of dessert or appetizer dish, and I like to stick with baking since it's more in my comfort zone. This time, I thought it would be fit to make an appetizer! I wanted to make a Greek dish because of my interest with the history of the ancient civilization. Smith mentions that during dinner parties, "... the host, a male, did all of the cooking for his guests. They were men of rank in the community, and they came to the dinner expecting to help" (Smith 389). Throughout earlier ages in history, we have been accustomed to seeing women stereotyped as the home makers. In ancient Greece, dinner parties were all about the male host being able to show his status.

To begin, I started off with roasting an eggplant covered in olive oil in the oven. This process was the longest part of the recipe, and took about forty-five minutes in a 375 degree oven. After taking out the roasted eggplant from the oven, I let it cool and then cut it into smaller pieces with the skin still on.

Brushed with oil, before roasting

After roasting

Then, I chopped up some fresh parsley, juiced half a lemon, and crushed two cloves of garlic. I added all of these into a blender, along with the cut eggplant, white vinegar, and olive oil. My blender wasn't incorporating everything so I had to mix the mixture with a spatula in between pulsing the blender. Last, I added in yogurt, cream cheese, and bread crumbs into the dip. It's important to add salt and pepper to the dish because it becomes quite sharp, especially with the vinegar AND lemon juice inside.

Eggplant with lemon, vinegar, parsley, olive oil, and garlic

Smith recommends refrigerating the dip for the duration of the night, to thicken the mix and let it cool because of the addition of roasted eggplant (Smith 393). This eggplant dip is creamy and perfect with crackers. I decided on sesame crackers, rather than plain crackers, because they added more of a crunch. It tastes quite tart, but the tartness balances out with the yogurt and cream cheese. Even though I'm not a fan of eggplant, it wasn't an overpowering note in the dip but it was still present. I'm also quite opposed to parsley, but that note was covered up by the lemon juice. I can definitely see myself making this for a dinner party in the future!

Are you familiar with Greek dishes? Do you like to serve a menu from one region during parties, or incorporate different regional flavors all together?

Blended mixture

Arrangement on dish

Smith, Jeff. “Greece.” The Frugal Gourmet, Ballantine Books, 1984, pp. 389–393.