Middle east
Aah the classic. There are millions of versions of this smoky, creamy aubergine mezze out there, with many regional variations all across the middle east.
This is our default recipe, but can be expanded in any number of ways – the only consistent feature across the board is the inclusion of tahini. Try shaved lemon rind and pomegranate seeds, or black garlic with toasted pine nuts.
African
It was a revelation for me when I realised that you can make fantastic, warm smokey salads on the braai. This earned a few odd looks from conservative Afrikaans family members, but they were converted very soon – this is undeniably delicious.
The inspiration for this came from our travels through Turkey, and a wonderful recipe book called Anatolia by Tyfun Arras, on Turkish cuisine.
This is an aubergine based cooked vegetable salad, Patlican meaning aubergine in Turkish, but the name Braai Slaai just rolls so nicely off the tongue, we can’t help calling it that 🙂