Wow cool! As soon as I saw the Romanian I gravitated to this Food52 article on eggplant - you might enjoy it (eggplant roasted on outdoor fire?) https://food52.com/recipes/78157-great-great-grandma-anna-s-romanian-eggplant-spread-potlagel I cant get the link right - there is on ith the back story. Will keep looking.
EDIT: OK here we go - a nice read for the food history folk https://food52.com/blog/23316-best-eggplant-dish-romanian-potlagel-my-family-recipe