WELCOME TO THE AJVAR PARTY.

It’s where red capsicum meets eggplant, and good things happen.

Ajvar is a spread, a relish, a dip, a creamy salsa. It’s pronounced ‘aye-varr’, and it hails from Serbia and Northern Macedonia, although you will find variations across the Balkan states and eastern Europe.

It’s smoky, fruity, tangy and deeply fulfilling. And it’s made from little more than red capsicums and eggplant (aubergine). The peppers make it fruity and bold; the eggplant makes it creamy and lush. Everything else is a matter of personal taste. You can make it chilli-hot, or vinegar-sharp, as long as the fruitiness still shines through.

Serve it with sausages, burgers or cevapcici, as shown here. It’s brilliant with a Greek spinach pie, or with leafy greens and roasted winter vegetables, to round out a vegetarian meal.  

It’s great in summer with grilled fish, and great in winter with roast lamb. It’s also an amazing pasta sauce! And if you don’t swirl a big spoonful of ajvar into your next minestrone, you are mad.

Some days, I just have it on hot, buttered toast. Maybe with a fried egg on top.

I currently live on the stuff, as you can see, kick-started by the purchase of a majorly large jar of fluorescently orange Perustija Ajvar from Northern Macedonia. I haven’t made my own ajvar for years, since a trip to the city of Pula in beautiful Istria, the northern province of Croatia, where it comes with pretty much everything.

To make it back then, I simply threw the vegetables in the oven until blackened, peeled them and pulsed them together in a food processor.

This time, I wanted to do it in a more traditional way; the way the babas (grandmothers) do it. Grilling or barbecuing the vegetables until blackened, putting them through a meat grinder or chopping by hand, then simmering it until thickened, to get something they could preserve in jars for months.  Some put sugar in it, some no garlic, some fefferoni peppers. So I took most of that on board, did it, and the end result was beautifully smoky and rich and mouth-filling. But guess what?  I still prefer the fresher, brighter, faster, easier end result, so that’s this week’s recipe.

The fast and easy method also has the advantage of cooking the vegetables through in the oven, so you don’t need to simmer them and lose that essential brightness.

I’m still going to show you a pic of the peppers charring on the gas flame, however, because it’s so much more dramatic. Two, actually.

HOW TO MAKE AJVAR

• 1 medium-large eggplant

• 2 large red capsicum (which I refer to as peppers)

• 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled

• Half red chilli

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus oil for coating

• 1 tsp sea salt, good grind of pepper

Heat the oven to 220C.

Prick the eggplant skin three or four times.

Coat eggplant and peppers, unpeeled garlic and chilli in olive oil, place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and bake for 30 mins or until blistered and dark, turning once.

Place the peppers in one bowl, and the eggplant, garlic and chilli in another. Cover and leave to steam for 20 minutes.

Peel off the skins and roughly chop the flesh, discarding the seeds and core of the peppers as well.

Place the eggplant in a food processor, add the cooked garlic squeezed from the skins, and as much of the chilli as you like, and whiz to a puree.

Add the peppers, olive oil, sea salt and pepper, and pulse until the mixture is finely minced but not yet a total puree, scraping down the sides once or twice.

Turn out into a bowl to serve, or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. (Makes a good bowlful, enough to serve four as a relish).

# I like a ratio of 2 peppers to 1 eggplant, to keep it bright and vibrant.

# By all means, add fresh garlic instead of roasted, and cayenne pepper instead of fresh chilli.

# Save and strain any resting juices from the peppers – it’s gold. Use in vinaigrettes, or just drink it. (Not so much the eggplant juices, however, which can be bitter).

# If the mixture is a bit runny after the processing, just tip the lot into a sieve and leave to drain for 10 minutes.

# Don’t add sugar - it mugs the natural sweetness. Consider a dash of red wine vinegar, however.

# Do a batch, and it will last a good week in the fridge.

Thanks for dropping by! And as always, thanks for your comments and suggestions. Special thanks to Terry for all the heavy-lifting of food processors.

This ode to ajvar is dedicated to Serbian singer, Milan Stankovic, who REALLY SHOULD HAVE WON EUROVISION for Serbia back in 2010 with the best get-up-and-dance song ever (Ovo Je Balkan, written by Goran Bregovic). Robbed, I tell you. Catch it here, and I challenge you to remain seated. Also, best hair. I still love you, Milan.

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I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to Elders past and present, and to the continuing strength and resilience of First Nations people, communities and cultures.