Eggplants with garlic

Η cuisine of Zakynthos characterized by the Zakynthians' love for the garlic, which is included in almost all of their dishes, which creates strong flavors with murky intensities that many times those familiar with mild flavors consider Zakynthian cuisine to be heavy. Their loss!

Garlic is mainly used in two sauces, one for dressing which is the garlic lemon, with which they season fried potatoes, salads and fried foods in general, and the other is the garlic stew, i.e. the vinegar with the crushed garlic that goes into the oil of the food and meets with the melted tomato and other spices, creating sauces of unique flavor intensity that accompany meats or herbs or even eggs.

The eggplants skordostubi it is perhaps the most beautiful application of it and the most beloved and characteristic food of Zakynthos.

Recipe for garlic stewed eggplants

Cut the eggplants into thick slices, salt them and leave them in water for about 1 hour, then squeeze them and rinse them with plenty of water to remove the bitterness. Dry them and fry them in hot olive oil for 2 minutes on both sides. Put the eggplants in a colander to drain the excess oil or spread them on a plate with absorbent paper.

In a deep pan add the olive oil to heat and then saute the garlic until the oil takes on the aroma of the garlic.
Add our tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar until we let them boil again until the liquid evaporates and at the end sprinkle with oregano.

Deglaze with the vinegar, add the small pieces of olive oil and then add the eggplants to the pan and let them come to a boil.

Another cooking method is to place the fried eggplants in one oven pan. Then we pour them with the garlic sauce and cheese, and then we bake them.

Eggplants with garlic is a recipe that the taverns of Zakynthos usually offer, only many times they reduce the amount of garlic - to make it more pleasant for the island's visitors - and thus weaken the flavor intensity of the dish.