I decided to continue with my series of preserved food and make it into a category. In my previous post, I’ve already talked about the phrase “Preserved is Better” and in this post, I’ll show a very commonly seen antipasto product, chargrilled eggplant. Eggplants are very versatile in terms of taste. They are bitter when raw but give full, complex and sophisticated flavours and soft & fine textures when well cooked. Thus, in many cuisines, cooking eggplant involves salting, draining and rinsing the sliced fruit. This is known as degorging and we will use it today in the recipe as well.
Ingredients
3 Eggplants – sliced vertically
salt
tarragon leaves – several pieces
1 red chilli pepper
extra virgin olive oil
Masterfoods mixed herbs
Steps
1. Salting of the vertically sliced eggplants. Make sure you add more than enough salt to extract the bitterness of the fruit.
2. After salting for 15 mins., gently rinse off the excess salt and slightly press the slices to squeeze the water out and drain.
3. Put the eggplant slices on chargrill or hot pan. Cook until soft and it now should have some beautiful char mark.
4. In a glass container, place a layer of mixed herbs, tarragon leaves and red chill at the bottom. Add the chargrilled eggplant slices. Make sure they are fully packed into the container.
5. Top the container with extra virgin olive oil and make sure all the slices are fully immersed in the oil. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 days before serving. Serve at room temperature.
I recently made some vinegar cured sardines and I’ll put a post up soon. Enjoy!
Foodies Cucina - Food and Travel Blog, Canberra 
I love eggplants and you have a great instruction/presentation here. Yum! 😀 Fae.
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Thanks Fae. Apparently I enjoy many of the preserved stuffs. LOL
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Ooh yum! I absolutely adore chargrilled eggplants and what a great way to preserve them. I had no idea it was so easy! Thanks for posting!
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No worries. I absolutely love chargrilled eggplants as they are so intense in flavour! 😀
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Congratulations! You have been awarded: One Lovely Blog Award
I do not expect any action to be taken, or for you to generate a post, unless you wish to pass it on.
Your blog has been awarded at:
http://faestwistandtango.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/awards-february-2013/
Enjoy! 😀 Fae.
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Thanks Fae! I have not got a chance to grab the badge yet. Just sent my wife’s parents away and there’s plenty of cleaning to do LOL~~
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What a brilliant recipe! I’m vegan and am always on the look out for new vegan recipes. We’ve got friends over on the weekend for a BBQ and I’ll definitely be bringing this one out!
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Hope you and your friends enjoyed the recipe!
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Once they are in oil how long will they keep?
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I finished them in 3 wks and they were still okay. They were stored in fridge. Hope this helps :).
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Hi,
I see you said they will keep for 3 weeks and that was a few years ago. I wondered if you knew if they kept longer by now. I have a huge harvest of them in my garden and am wondering if they will keep for a year or so
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