While in Istanbul, among the terrific dishes I tried was a great eggplant salad. Besides being just damn good, it’s also damned healthy. So I wanted to share the recipe, along with its partner pide, a flat bread that accompanies any good Turkish meal.

Patlican salatasi, or… in Istanbul parlance, “aubergine salad.” It’s a simple dish that goes especially well with a nice pide,along with yogurt and olives.The pide here are from an Abracadabra’s house recipe, something served fresh daily. Abracadabra’s variation is includes cooked spinach inside the bread. It’s a must for wiping your plate. Douse it in olive oil scented with oregano or with patlican salatasi.

While I never wrote down the exact recipe, Abracadabra’s Meze chef, Murat Ceylan, let me hang out frequently watching him make it. All to say, hopefully I captured it via old fashioned culinary osmosis. And I was able to score a specific pide recipe from my wonderful food artisan friend, Dilara. As my trip to Istanbul was too short (painfully so), the flavors, smells and sites have me dreaming of my return. Guess there’s only one thing to do with such memories. Time to cook!

1 Aubergine (eggplant)
1 Chopped tomato, peeled and seeded
2 pieces of scallion sliced thin

1 garlic clove, minced
1 red pepper roasted or raw, diced
2tsp Cumin powder 

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2-3 Tbsp olive oil2-3 Tbsp. Chopped Italian parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Serves 4-6

Prick the eggplant with a fork on all sides,broil or grill till soft. Set aside till cool. Peel cooled eggplant and mash eggplant with fork along with a peeled and seeded, chopped tomato. chopped scallion. minced garlic, cumin and lemon juice. Mix with a fork while whisking in olive oil, finish with salt and pepper to taste.

Served room temperature with a dollop of labne or strained yogurt and olives.

Pide: the puffy one with spinach and sesame ( there is no spinach in this version)

( I bulk fermented the dough first for about 1 hour, Dilara hadn’t mentioned it in her notes, so assumed she may have missed that part?)