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melitzáni

μελιτζάνη

Aubergine (eggplant) is popular in a dozen Greek dishes from moussaka and imam bayildi to melitzanósalata. Others include

μελιτζάνα Αμοργιανή (melitzána Amorgianí): aubergines sautéed and layered with sauce made from garlic, onion, tomatoes, cinnamon and cloves, topped with a dollop of xinomyzithra and baked in the oven. From Amorgos.

μελιτζάνα πολίτικη (melitzána polítiki): made with tomatoes, green onions, garlic, walnuts and feta.

The Arcadian town of Leonídio, on the east coast of the Peloponnese, produces a long narrow tender PDO (ΠΟΠ) aubergine known as Tsakóniki or tsakonian eggplants (Τσακώνικη Μελιτζάνα Λεωνιδίου) that are never ever bitter, they say because they grow on a plain right by the sea

tsakonian eggplants from Leonidio

Every August Leonídio holds a festival celebrating their famous melitzáni, when over a tonne are prepared in a wide variety of ways, and there's music and dancing until dawn.

Peloponnese

Vegetables, greens and pulses

Text © Dana Facaros

Images by jandlseeds, melitzazz