GreekFoodTv☼ Roasted Eggplant "Caviar" Dip, Spread, and Salad (Melitzanosalata) HD

Roasted Eggplant Salad, melitzanosalata in Greek, is one of the classic meze plates. It's healthy, delicious, and easy to make. All you need is great Greek olive oil, eggplants (aubergines), salt, and a pinch of sugar. You can add any herbs you want to that basic recipe, or embellish it with feta cheese, capers, tomatoes, even walnuts. Diane Kochilas and Greekfoodtv show you how to prepare it at home.
3 large plump eggplants/aubergines, washed and dried
2/3 cup/180 ml extra-virgin Greek olive oil
Salt to taste
Pinch of sugar

1. Place the eggplants on a low open flame, such as a gas burner or grill, and roast, turning with kitchen tongs, until the skin is charred on all sides and the very top of the eggplant, near the stem—which is the densest part of the flesh—is soft and spongy. Remove with tongs and transfer to a bowl, until cool enough to handle.
2. Transfer the eggplants to a cutting board and, using a sharp paring or chef's knife, cut the eggplants open lengthwise down the center. Cut around the contours of each eggplant and peel back its skin. With a spoon, remove the pulp, discarding as many of the seeds as possible without wasting too much pulp.
3. Pour the olive oil into a metal mixing bowl and transfer the eggplant pulp to the bowl. Stir and mash simultaneously with a fork, until the eggplant has absorbed the olive oil and is chunky but soft. Season with salt and a pinch of sugar. From this basic recipe, you can add almost anything. A Greek islands' variation includes chopped scallion, garlic and capers.

In Greek: μελιτζανοσαλάτα, pronounced meh-leed-zah-no-sah-LAH-tah
If you are a devoted fan of the traditional, cook the eggplant over a wood fire - or add wood chips to a charcoal grill and cook it for that deep, smoky taste. This version is easier and delivers a tasty result, and includes chopped tomatoes.Eggplant salads and appetizers are the salads and appetizers made primarily of eggplants (aubergines). There is variety of such dishes throughout the cuisines of different regions and countries of the world.Eggplant salad, Salată de vinete or Vinetta is a both Hungarian and Romanian mashed eggplant salad made of grilled, peeled and finely chopped eggplants, sunflower oil and chopped onions. The eggplants are grilled until they are covered with black ash crust. The crust is cleaned off and the remaining cooked eggplant is mashed with a blunt, thick wooden knife on a wooden platter (using a metal knife will turn the eggplant flesh black). The eggplant mash is mixed in a bowl, stirring continuously, with sunflower oil, chopped onions and salt. The mix is beaten vigorously. Crushed garlic and ground pepper may be added too. Instead of oil, mayonnaise can be used.
In Bulgaria a typical eggplant appetizer is kyopolou, it is made with roasted aubergines and red peppers.
In Russia and Ukraine, a category of similar dishes is known as baklazhannaya ikra (Russian: баклажанная икра, literally "eggplant pâté" (Note that "ikra" in this context means "puree", mashed "ragout" or "pâté" rather than the homonym "caviar") and some versions add chopped tomatoes to the basic recipe. Another eggplant salad popular in Russia is called kh'e iz baklazhanov (Russian: хе из баклажанов, and it is probably influenced by Korean cuisine). Eggplant kh'e is based on julienned (instead of mashed) cooked aubergines and other vegetables, prepared with concentrated vinegar. After adding the vinegar, it is set aside for several hours to cure before eating.

This is the Greek Food Channel http://www.dianekochilas.com/
Come to visit Diane and Vassili at their GLORIOUS GREEK KITCHEN COOKING SCHOOL (Ikaria). They run cooking classes and organize culinary tours in Greece for recreational and professional cooks. They also own DV FOOD ARTS CONSULTING, a food marketing company that produces specialty books and other food-and-wine-related literature for a wide variety of clients and independently for the tourist and other markets. Diane consults on Greek cuisine for restaurants, retail outlets and producers of fine Greek foods. Vassilis Stenos (photographer) offers an extensive archive of food and travel photographs of Greece.

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[DianeKochilas]

Yes, Greek food is really good, isn't it!!

D

[Oaklio]

Eggplant massacre.

[aposapes]

@chizwhiz01 EI

[chizwhiz01]

Gia sta xeria sou Diane... very nicely done... next time hope we get to see you too in the video... love that salad too... remember not everything goes on a ritz but it most certainly goes on a pita bread!!!!

[fresh4ever2000]

I love Greek food! Maybe I will make one of your recipes on my cooking channel next time! :-) xxx Zuzandra

[MonyMG1959]

@yeoreum1 We do the same in the Dominican Republic, we fry some onion, garlic and green pepper, and after is all tender we add the eggplant and eggs and cook like scramble. Some people put a dab of tomato paste.

[GWBushpig]

It tastes much better when you add onion garlic and lemon juice

[yeoreum1]

its more delicious if you mix it w/ egg and fry it. its a pilipino version. we call that tortang talong(eggplant w/ egg ).

[Petrance7]

its melitzanosalata not melitzanlata :D

[rgmartin2003]

My family has been making this for years. We are from Romania, but we do ours a little bit differently. We use the olive oil, but before it gets put in to the bowl with the oil we take a knife and chop the eggplant up real well, or you can use a mixer. We add 1 or 2 chopped and fried onions, than the salt. We usually eat this with tomatoes and with some French bread.

Great video! I like seeing other ways of cooking one of my favorite dishes!

[kristinarusgrl]

Greek food so yum!

[kikine05]

The olive oil must be greek? ^^ I'm kidding