Sicily’s cooks make much of the eggplant. They fry it in crisp disks, with mint and vinegar; bake it with tomato sauce and salty caciocavallo cheese; stuff it with anchovies, parsley, and capers; or grill it over charcoal before seasoning with garlic and oregano. Occasionally, they will roll up a thick jam of eggplant in soft disks of dough like a savory strudel, called scaccie, while all the time matching it to the Arab-influenced exotica of their cupboards: anchovies, olives, fennel, mint, pomegranates, currants, and pine nuts. The thin, Turkish eggplant with the bulbous end is the one they prefer, though you could use any shape for their famous caponata, the rich sweet-sour stew braised with celery, golden raisins, vinegar, and bell peppers. I can eat this fragrant, amber slop at any time of year, but somehow I always end up making it when the sun is shining, eating it outside with flat, chewy bread and maybe some grilled sardines flecked with torn mint leaves and lemon. If you make it the day before, its character—salty, sweet, and sour—will have time to settle itself.

　　

Ingredients

enough for 4

　　very large eggplants – 2

　　a large onion

　　olive oil

　　garlic – 2 cloves, sliced

　　celery – 2 large stalks, thinly sliced

　　a large red bell pepper, cored and sliced

　　tomato paste – a scant tablespoon

　　tomato purée – scant 1 cup (200ml)

　　golden raisins or raisins – 2 tablespoons

　　red wine vinegar – 4 tablespoons

　　sugar – a tablespoon

　　capers – a tablespoon

　　green olives – a handful

　　

Step 1

Peel the eggplants and remove their stems. Cut them into large chunks, place in a colander, and sprinkle with salt. Set aside for an hour.

　　

Step 2

Peel the onion, slice it thinly, and add it to a large, shallow pan coated with a shallow layer of oil. Let the onion soften—but not color—over medium heat. Add the garlic toward the end of cooking. Remove the onion and garlic from the pan, and put in a bowl. Fry the celery and pepper in the pan until soft. Remove and add to the onion.

　　

Step 3

Rinse the salt from the eggplants, pat dry with paper towels, then soften in the same pan. As they approach tenderness, return the onion, garlic, celery, and pepper to the pan, stir, and continue cooking over gentle heat until the eggplants are truly tender.

　　

Step 4

Stir in the tomato paste, tomato purée, golden raisins, vinegar, sugar, capers, and 2/3 cup (150ml) water. Season and simmer gently for about twenty-five minutes, keeping a careful eye on it to ensure you end up with a soft tangle of sweet-sour vegetables. Chill overnight, then serve with bread.

　　Tender