I worked at an authentic southern Italian restaurant, and we served a sandwich with the marinated eggplant on it, as well as put it on the antipasti plate. Peel eggplant, slice as thin as possible with a knife, we used a slicer, about as thin as a cotton shirt. If it is too thin, it will disintigrate when the vinegar solution is added. You will need enough liquid to cover the sliced eggplant, so make a mixture of 1:1 water to white vinegar. Add whole garlic cloves, oregano, chili pepper, bring to boil, add to eggplant, let sit at room temp overnight. Strain, squeeze, add olive oil, ground garlic, chili flake, oregano, touch of salt. Mix and refrigerate. As long as it covered with oil, it will last indefinately! Can even be jarred/canned. Enjoy! Add a touch of salt to vinegar solution if desired, and the solution can be reused, it just needs to be fortified with more vinegar and whole garlic.