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| Aubergine stew from Iran - recipe | Aubergine stew from Iran - recipe |
| (2 months later) | |
| Before going to Iran, I had eaten only stale, tasteless turmeric that added colour rather than flavour. On my first full day in Iran, I had a dish of eggplant stuffed with ground lamb, topped with unripe grapes, and seasoned with turmeric. I thought it was cinnamon, even writing in my diary that it was a different kind of cinnamon, "deeper and more earthy tasting. It isn't as light or sweet. I guess you could say that it tastes as though it was grown with cumin..." | Before going to Iran, I had eaten only stale, tasteless turmeric that added colour rather than flavour. On my first full day in Iran, I had a dish of eggplant stuffed with ground lamb, topped with unripe grapes, and seasoned with turmeric. I thought it was cinnamon, even writing in my diary that it was a different kind of cinnamon, "deeper and more earthy tasting. It isn't as light or sweet. I guess you could say that it tastes as though it was grown with cumin..." |
| Now, every time I taste turmeric, I think of those early days in Iran, when I hadn't yet overdosed on kebab and hospitality, and every meal was rife with new flavours and observations. | Now, every time I taste turmeric, I think of those early days in Iran, when I hadn't yet overdosed on kebab and hospitality, and every meal was rife with new flavours and observations. |
| Food is a bridge to the past, and the best dishes come accompanied by good stories. This week, I cooked a stew of eggplant and chicken with Halleh Ghorashi, an influential scholar in the Netherlands, who I know came there as a refugee. Among her friends, however, she is more known for her cooking than for any of her academic accomplishments. | Food is a bridge to the past, and the best dishes come accompanied by good stories. This week, I cooked a stew of eggplant and chicken with Halleh Ghorashi, an influential scholar in the Netherlands, who I know came there as a refugee. Among her friends, however, she is more known for her cooking than for any of her academic accomplishments. |
| "When I cook, I cook with love," she said. "I think of it like a painting that I compose with care." | "When I cook, I cook with love," she said. "I think of it like a painting that I compose with care." |
| The dish she chose to cook was one that provided an enduring link with her mother and her own troubled childhood. When she cooks her eggplant dish, Halleh can't help but remember the strain of growing up with a mother who suffered from schizophrenia. | The dish she chose to cook was one that provided an enduring link with her mother and her own troubled childhood. When she cooks her eggplant dish, Halleh can't help but remember the strain of growing up with a mother who suffered from schizophrenia. |
| "It was always a painful relationship. Her life was dominated by her sickness and there was a direct connection between her miserable life and me, since her schizophrenia emerged with my birth. From that moment, my mom was never normal like other moms. I was often embarrassed of her sickness. She was fighting all the time with her family, with the neighbours, with my father, with everyone." | "It was always a painful relationship. Her life was dominated by her sickness and there was a direct connection between her miserable life and me, since her schizophrenia emerged with my birth. From that moment, my mom was never normal like other moms. I was often embarrassed of her sickness. She was fighting all the time with her family, with the neighbours, with my father, with everyone." |
| When she was nine, her parents divorced and Halleh was sent to a boarding school where she spent the next seven years. "From boarding school, I went to my mom's place every Thursday – dreading it, knowing it would be a place of depression. Everything in the house shouted at me, 'I want to get out.' Nothing was taken care of. It was just there," Halleh remembers. | When she was nine, her parents divorced and Halleh was sent to a boarding school where she spent the next seven years. "From boarding school, I went to my mom's place every Thursday – dreading it, knowing it would be a place of depression. Everything in the house shouted at me, 'I want to get out.' Nothing was taken care of. It was just there," Halleh remembers. |
| "Even so, I wanted to see my mom. And every Thursday she would make aubergine for me. I looked forward to it so much. It overshadowed all the negativeness. The aubergine she made was so delicious. I never ever tasted anything so good. It was almost the only connection between me and my mom. It was also one of the very few dishes she ever made." | "Even so, I wanted to see my mom. And every Thursday she would make aubergine for me. I looked forward to it so much. It overshadowed all the negativeness. The aubergine she made was so delicious. I never ever tasted anything so good. It was almost the only connection between me and my mom. It was also one of the very few dishes she ever made." |
| Halleh explains that her mother's recipe for aubergine was different from the one followed by most Iranians. To begin with, she used chicken instead of red meat. She also used a liberal amount of unripe grapes along with a healthy dose the juice of unripe grapes (ab ghoureh). | Halleh explains that her mother's recipe for aubergine was different from the one followed by most Iranians. To begin with, she used chicken instead of red meat. She also used a liberal amount of unripe grapes along with a healthy dose the juice of unripe grapes (ab ghoureh). |
| "My mom's side of the family makes very sour food – they make it with sour grapes. Then my mom would add a whole big bottle of ab ghoureh. She would use a lot of onions, many more than I normally use. She also used a lot of oil, which I didn't mind then because the oil tasted perfect. Everything tasted perfect." | "My mom's side of the family makes very sour food – they make it with sour grapes. Then my mom would add a whole big bottle of ab ghoureh. She would use a lot of onions, many more than I normally use. She also used a lot of oil, which I didn't mind then because the oil tasted perfect. Everything tasted perfect." |
| Halleh continues, "I add things my mom didn't. I put in bell peppers for one. My mom would never do that. And mine is not as sour as my mom's. When you ate hers your lips turned blue." | Halleh continues, "I add things my mom didn't. I put in bell peppers for one. My mom would never do that. And mine is not as sour as my mom's. When you ate hers your lips turned blue." |
| The day we cooked together, she was preparing the eggplant dish for eight people. Her husband's football team was coming to their house for the first time. Having heard him and a friend rave about Halleh's cooking, they had finally secured a dinner invitation after two years of begging and wheedling. | The day we cooked together, she was preparing the eggplant dish for eight people. Her husband's football team was coming to their house for the first time. Having heard him and a friend rave about Halleh's cooking, they had finally secured a dinner invitation after two years of begging and wheedling. |
| As we prepare the food together, Halleh explains that her version is not even half as good as her mother's. She attributes this to differences in the produce and the spices, and most of all to nostalgia. "Nostalgia makes everything sweeter," she says. "When she visited, even my mom couldn't make it as good here as she had in Iran." | As we prepare the food together, Halleh explains that her version is not even half as good as her mother's. She attributes this to differences in the produce and the spices, and most of all to nostalgia. "Nostalgia makes everything sweeter," she says. "When she visited, even my mom couldn't make it as good here as she had in Iran." |
| Halleh said her view of her mother had changed as she struggled to make a new life for herself in the Netherlands. "During my whole process of growing up as a child in Iran, my mom and I had a competition about which one of us was more pitiful – she who was sick or me, who was the child of a sick mother. We were constantly fighting and competing for recognition from the other side. We blamed each other continuously for the terrible life we had. It was the distance of my exile that helped me to realise how painful my mother's life has been and how strong she was. In spite of her sickness, she was always fighting for her place as a woman, as a single mother, in Iran, in her neighborhood. She was fighting to be respected, to work, to care for herself and for me," Halleh said. | Halleh said her view of her mother had changed as she struggled to make a new life for herself in the Netherlands. "During my whole process of growing up as a child in Iran, my mom and I had a competition about which one of us was more pitiful – she who was sick or me, who was the child of a sick mother. We were constantly fighting and competing for recognition from the other side. We blamed each other continuously for the terrible life we had. It was the distance of my exile that helped me to realise how painful my mother's life has been and how strong she was. In spite of her sickness, she was always fighting for her place as a woman, as a single mother, in Iran, in her neighborhood. She was fighting to be respected, to work, to care for herself and for me," Halleh said. |
| During a visit from her mother, Halleh was able to express this new understanding. She told her mother how much she respected her accomplishments and her struggle for autonomy and respect. "One week later she told me how proud of me she was and how much she loved me. This was the first time she told me she loved me and did not blame me for all the misery of her life." | During a visit from her mother, Halleh was able to express this new understanding. She told her mother how much she respected her accomplishments and her struggle for autonomy and respect. "One week later she told me how proud of me she was and how much she loved me. This was the first time she told me she loved me and did not blame me for all the misery of her life." |
| Later, when we eat the eggplant dish together, it's even more delicious than I had remembered, sweeter because of the history shared. | Later, when we eat the eggplant dish together, it's even more delicious than I had remembered, sweeter because of the history shared. |
| For those of you eager to make this dish, it takes time and care and oil. My advice: don't skimp on any of the three no matter how tempted you are to do so. | For those of you eager to make this dish, it takes time and care and oil. My advice: don't skimp on any of the three no matter how tempted you are to do so. |
| Ingredients: | Ingredients: |
| 8 smallish eggplants, peeled, sliced, and salted overnight ("This makes it so that the aubergine absorbs less oil"); rinsed and dried about an hour before cooking | 8 smallish eggplants, peeled, sliced, and salted overnight ("This makes it so that the aubergine absorbs less oil"); rinsed and dried about an hour before cooking |
| 4 onions chopped, but not diced | 4 onions chopped, but not diced |
| 3 bell peppers — 1 green, 1 yellow, and 1 red — chopped | 3 bell peppers — 1 green, 1 yellow, and 1 red — chopped |
| Plenty of skinless, boneless chicken, chopped into good sized chunks, doused with a lot of salt for about 30 minutes; rinsed and dried before cooking | Plenty of skinless, boneless chicken, chopped into good sized chunks, doused with a lot of salt for about 30 minutes; rinsed and dried before cooking |
| Unripe grapes (you can get them in jars at shops that cater to Iranian and Afghan customers) | Unripe grapes (you can get them in jars at shops that cater to Iranian and Afghan customers) |
| Ab ghoureh (the juice of unripe grapes. You can probably use cooking wine for this – not actual wine. That would not be right.) | Ab ghoureh (the juice of unripe grapes. You can probably use cooking wine for this – not actual wine. That would not be right.) |
| A small tin of tomato paste Turmeric | A small tin of tomato paste Turmeric |
| Black pepper and salt | Black pepper and salt |
| About 2 teaspoons of saffron dissolved in lukewarm water — a half a glass of water should be on the red side of orange. | About 2 teaspoons of saffron dissolved in lukewarm water — a half a glass of water should be on the red side of orange. |
| Water to thin | Water to thin |
| Sunflower oil or another type with a high smoke point | Sunflower oil or another type with a high smoke point |
| The aubergine: | The aubergine: |
| An hour or so before you cook, rinse the eggplant and dry in paper towels. Heat oil in a large, deep pan. Forget about your waistline, and use more than you would like Carefully put the eggplant in the pan. | An hour or so before you cook, rinse the eggplant and dry in paper towels. Heat oil in a large, deep pan. Forget about your waistline, and use more than you would like Carefully put the eggplant in the pan. |
| Turn the slices carefully as you sauté them. Eggplant is delicate. You want them to be golden brown, but not burnt. You will have to add oil between batches. | Turn the slices carefully as you sauté them. Eggplant is delicate. You want them to be golden brown, but not burnt. You will have to add oil between batches. |
| TIP: When a batch is done, Halleh adds new slices to the pan, putting the cooked slices on top of the new ones. "That way they share their oil," she explains. When the new slices are ready to turn, she takes out the cooked slices and puts them on a plate that is angled up so that the oil from the eggplant will drain down the plate. "I try to drain as much of the oil as possible, and then reuse it for the onions." | TIP: When a batch is done, Halleh adds new slices to the pan, putting the cooked slices on top of the new ones. "That way they share their oil," she explains. When the new slices are ready to turn, she takes out the cooked slices and puts them on a plate that is angled up so that the oil from the eggplant will drain down the plate. "I try to drain as much of the oil as possible, and then reuse it for the onions." |
| Once the aubergine is cooked, let the slices sit so the oil can drain. | Once the aubergine is cooked, let the slices sit so the oil can drain. |
| The remaining ingredients: | The remaining ingredients: |
| Now it's time to sauté the onions. Saute them in the oil from the aubergine (and maybe a bit more) until they are golden, stirring often so they don't burn. When they are golden brown, drain them. | Now it's time to sauté the onions. Saute them in the oil from the aubergine (and maybe a bit more) until they are golden, stirring often so they don't burn. When they are golden brown, drain them. |
| Return the onions to the pan and cook with the chopped peppers and the turmeric. After a few minutes, add the chicken. Add a few spoonfuls of the saffron water now. | Return the onions to the pan and cook with the chopped peppers and the turmeric. After a few minutes, add the chicken. Add a few spoonfuls of the saffron water now. |
| Let cook for about five minutes, adding black pepper to taste and then a small tin of tomato paste. Fill the tin with water and add the water. Add 4-5 large spoonfuls of unripe grapes and about one-third of a bottle of the juice of unripe grapes or cooking wine. | Let cook for about five minutes, adding black pepper to taste and then a small tin of tomato paste. Fill the tin with water and add the water. Add 4-5 large spoonfuls of unripe grapes and about one-third of a bottle of the juice of unripe grapes or cooking wine. |
| Add the rest of the saffron water and, if needed, a bit of water so that you have a thick stew. | Add the rest of the saffron water and, if needed, a bit of water so that you have a thick stew. |
| Let simmer until the chicken is barely done. | Let simmer until the chicken is barely done. |
| Bring the ingredients together: Arrange the mix in an oven-proof dish that can be used for serving. | Bring the ingredients together: Arrange the mix in an oven-proof dish that can be used for serving. |
| Layer the aubergine on top with slices of fresh tomato. Top with the last of the sauce left from cooking the chicken. | Layer the aubergine on top with slices of fresh tomato. Top with the last of the sauce left from cooking the chicken. |
| About 30 minutes before you are ready, put it into a preheated oven and cook. | About 30 minutes before you are ready, put it into a preheated oven and cook. |
| Serve with rice. | Serve with rice. |
| Make sure you have leftovers, because it tastes even better the following day. | Make sure you have leftovers, because it tastes even better the following day. |
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