Modovan Vegetable Caviar (Givech)

A goldmine for vegetarian foods are the cuisines of Orthodox Christian countries, in which meat-free fast-days are frequent throughout the year. This has led to a number of ingenious dishes, including a wide variety of meat-free ‘caviars’ throughout eastern Europe and Russia. We suspect that these are called caviar because like their namesakes, they represent highly flavored pastes that are often spread over blinis or bread. The following is a ratatouille-like sweet-pepper forward vegetable caviar from Moldova. We’ve adapted our recipe from one presented in Anya von Bremzen & John Welchman’s 1990 incomparable Please to the Table (ISBN 978-0894807534).

1½ pounds eggplant
¼ cup olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and cut into ¼” dice
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into ¼” dice
2 large green bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into ¼” dice
2 small zucchini, cut into ½” dice
1 tart apple, peeled, cored, and cut into ½” dice
6 large garlic cloves, minced
1 cup tomato, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1” dice
¼ cup lemon juice or more to taste
½ teaspoon sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400° F. Pierce eggplant in several places with a knife, place on a baking sheet, and place in oven. Roast for 30 minutes, and then turn the eggplant over. Continue baking until the eggplant has become soft and has collapsed. Remove from oven and cool.

Cut roasted eggplant in half and scoop out the pulp, discarding the skin. Coarsely chop and reserve the pulp.

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pan. Add carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add in the remaining ingredients in order (red and green peppers, then zucchini, and finally the apple) at 3-4 minute intervals. Add in the reserved eggplant pulp and half the garlic. Cover and simmer over low heat for 40 minutes. Add the tomatoes and continue simmering for another hour, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat. Add in the remaining garlic, lemon juice, and sugar. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a covered bowl and refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Modovan Vegetable Caviar (Givech)

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