Eggplant with Pomegranates

[irodguy]

Does anybody have a good recipe for this? I had this at a middle eastern place.

The eggplant appeared to be roasted with Garlic and Pomegranates. I could not quite identify the other ingredients.

[Rien]

Sounds Turkish or Syrian, no? Was it actual pomegranates or pomegranate syrup? I imagine it was more of a stew than eggplant with a sauce. If so, I'm sure there was tomato, lemon juice, and cilantro or parsley. The eggplant was probably salted and drained first and then fried. Seems to be the case with most stewed eggplant dishes. After that, i'm sure it could go in many different directions. Two places to look are Clifford Wright's Mediterranean Vegetables - a number of recipes for stewed vegetables with pomegranate syrup ... though I don't think any use eggplant, there is a very good green bean dish that could easily be adapted - or Claudia Roden's The New Book of Middle Eastern Food - again, many dishes with pomegranate and a lucid discussion of the contours & regional variations of Middle Eastern cooking.

Best of luck.

Rien

Edited July 23, 2004 by Rien (log)

[zora]

I can't tell from your description: Was it a casserole-type dish, or were all the ingredients separate? I've had two Middle Eastern eggplant/pom combos:

1) In a recent issue of Food & Wine (July? Check the digests...), Paula Wolfert did a story on a chef in Istanbul, and the recipe for eggplant and lentils baked with pomegranate syrup is incredibly delicious. (Follow her advice on letting it sit for a few hours or overnight--much better.) It's basically peppers, onions, eggplant, tomato paste, lentils, Turkish red pepper, mint, and pomegranate syrup.

2) In Syria, I had grilled slices of eggplant topped with chopped raw garlic, shredded basil and a big drizzle of pomegranate syrup. Since then, I've also mixed up this flavor combo as a cold salad, roasting the whole eggplant and mashing it a little, a la baba ghanouj. That you can just do to taste...

[irodguy]

It was not a stewed dish but rather slices of eggplant with garlic and pomegranates, all though on the latter you just saw very small pieces of Pomegranate. The Syrian dish sounds closest.

[Smithy]

It was not a stewed dish but rather slices of eggplant with garlic and pomegranates, all though on the latter you just saw very small pieces of Pomegranate.  The Syrian dish sounds closest.

By "small pieces of pomegranate" do you mean they had sprinkled pomegranate seeds over the garlic and eggplant slices? That would look lovely.

[irodguy]

Yes a mix of small cut up pieces. Don't remember seeing the seeds. I guess a return visit is mandated

It was just more complex than I could figure out after one trip. But I will figure it out

[Smithy]

Yes a mix of small cut up pieces.  Don't remember seeing the seeds.    I guess a return visit is mandated 

With a camera, please! We need pictures!