SC - OOP - Sicilian eggplant dishes (long)

[Decker, Terry D.]

Actually, I think you are mixing two dishes, caponata and tabacchiere di
melanzane.  Neither has any date attached to them, however, they are
preceded by some recipes originally attributed Mohammed ibn Itmnah, Emir of
Catania with notes on the derivation of her more modern versions.

I'm not overly fond of eggplant, but these look tasty.

Bear


Caponata (Sweet and Sour Eggplant) serves 6

2 medium large eggplants (about 2 1/2 pounds)
salt
1 1/2 cup olive oil
1 medium onion sliced
6 ribs celery, cut into 1 inch lengths and blanced for 1 minute in boiling
water
1 cup pitted green olives
1/2 cup capers
1 1/2 cups plain tomato sauce
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (optional)
3/4 cup toasted almonds

Wash the eggplants, cut off the stems, and cut the eggplants into 3/4 inch
cubes.  Sprinkle with abundant salt and allow to drain for an hour.  Rinse
well, dry, and fry in 1 cup olive oil until golden brown on all sides.
Drain on absorbent paper.

Saute the onion in 1/2 cup olive oil until it begins to color.  Add the
blanched celery and cook a minute longer, then add the olives, capers,
tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, and the cocoa if you like.  Simmer for 5
minutes.

Stir in the eggplant and simmer for 10 minutes.  Correct the salt, the
refrigerate for 24 hours.

Serve the caponata, sprinkled with toasted alomonds, either cold or at room
teperature.

Note:  The addition of cocoa, a very baroque, Spanish touch, renders the
caponata richer in color and in consistency.  Since my own personal
preferences run to things simple, I usually leave it out.

According to one book the chefs of the aristocracy would also serve caponata
"sprinklled with bottarga, tuna roe, hard-boiled egg yolk, all reduced to a
powder; crumbled hard-boiled egg whites, tiny octupus boiled and chopped,
small shrimps, boned sardines in oil, and all the shellfish you wish."  I
find the idea appalling and recommend confining oneself to a liberal
sprinkling of toasted almond slivers.


Tabacchiere di Melanzane (Eggplant snuffboxes)  Serves 6

3 smallish eggplants
salt
1 medium onion
1/2 cup olive oil
10 anchovy fillets
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup parsley
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup capers
1 cup toasted breadcrumbs
1/3 cup finely dice salami (optional)
2 or 3 egg whites, beaten until foamy
2 cups dried bread crumbs
vegetable oil for frying

Wash the eggplants, remove the stems, cut in half vertically, and hollow out
each half, leaving 1/2 inch shells.  Put both the shells and the pulp to
soak in salted water for 2 hours.  Rinse and drain.  Blanch the shells in
boiling water for about 5 minutes and drain.

Mince or grate the onion, then saute it in 1/2 cup olive oil until soft.
Roughly chop the pulp of the eggplant and add it to the onion.  Saute for
about 10 minutes or until soft, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.

Cook the anchovies in 1 teaspoon oil over steam until creamy.*  Mince the
parsley, the garlic and the capers, then add along with the anchovies to the
eggplant-and-onion mixture.  Stir in the toasted breadcrumbs and salami, if
using it.  Blend thoroughly, adding a little oil if necessary to make a
fairly compact filling.

Fill the eggplant shells with the pulp-an-crumb mixture, pressing down to
make it as compact as possible.  Bind the stuffed shells by dipping both
sides in the beaten egg whites and then in the dried bread crumbs.  Make
sure they are well coated.

Fry the eggplant in 1/4 inch hot oil until well browned on each side.  Be
sure to begin frying with the filling side down, even though this takes
careful handling; otherwise escaping air bubbles will crack the crust.  Turn
and fry the skin side.  Drain on absorbent paper and serve at room
temperature.

*In a seperate pan or double boiler (I always use a small double-handled
frying pan that will sit on top of my spaghetti pot), cook the anchovies
together with one teaspoon of olive oil, stirring them until they dissolve
into a ceam.  This must be done over steam and not over the direct flame,
lest the anchovies turn bitter.


Recipes are taken from:  Simeti, Mary Taylor, Pomp an Sustenance,
Twenty-five Centuries of Sicilian Food; Knopf, New York, 1989.  Currently
available from The Ecco Press as a trade paperback, $19.95.  ISBN
0-88001-610-8




> In a message dated 08/18/1999 4:47:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
> TerryD at Health.State.OK.US writes:
> 
> << 
>  I would recommend reading Pomp and Sustenance, a cookbook of Sicilian
>  cooking.
>  
>  Bear >>
>     Ah, *that's* the name! I was blanking entirely. Lovely book, with lots
> of 
> interesting info--but no really well documented period recipes. Closest I 
> remember is an eggplant dish purported to be from the 1500s (?), with the 
> eggplant sliced in half, removed from the skin, cooked and mashed,
> seasoned, 
> and replaced in the (Sautéed) shells, and drizzled with honey before
> serving. 
> Made the dish a time or two, but it's been a while, so I may have
> forgotten a 
> lot of details........... ;-) 
> 
>                 Ldy Diana
> 
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