Eggplant spread

Horpaz is one of the thirteen villages that make up the commune of Miroslava, Iași County. It used to be a small village, a hamlet. A century ago, it was part of the Galata commune and had 57 inhabitants. Since 1968, it has been part of the mentioned commune. The village’s future was put into question by Ceaușescu’s village consolidation policy. After 1989, Horpaz became a developed village with a growing population, given its short distance from the city of Iași. Horpaz is home to an old church and a monument to the heroes of World War I.

Andreea Enachi from the village of Horpaz, Miroslava commune, prepares dozens of jars of vegetable spread every year.

“My love for cooking started in my childhood when I saw my parents making eggplant spread in the autumn, carefully putting the jars in the cellar. Autumn was a bustling time in our family. We went mushroom picking, and my mother picked the most beautiful bell peppers for the spread, while we children prepared the jars. My grandmother also instilled in me a love for cooking. The day started in the summer kitchen during the holidays. I admired how she made cornmeal porridge, boiled beet borscht, and many other wonders of traditional cooking. I made my first eggplant spread in high school. After I got married, at our little house in Horpaz, autumn has become a yearly reminder of the bustle of my childhood. Together with my husband and our three children, we make the spread recipe I learned from my mother. It takes a whole day, but it’s a pleasure to cook such a recipe with the family.”

Andreea Enachi recommends, first and foremost, growing the vegetables in your own garden. This way, you have control over the seeds and don’t need to use chemicals for spraying.

Ingredients:

– 50 bell peppers,

– 50 sweet peppers,

– 2 kg onions,

– 30 eggplants,

– 4 kg tomatoes,

– 1 kg carrots,

– 2 liters of oil.

Preparation:

Roast the eggplants, bell peppers, and sweet peppers outside. Peel the sweet peppers and remove the seeds, and peel the eggplants. Chop the onions finely and sauté them in oil. Peel the tomatoes and dice them. Chop the eggplants and peppers into strips, and grate the carrots. Let it simmer until the spread has reduced by a third, and the oil has risen to the surface of the cauldron. Let it cool, then pour it into jars. It’s a good idea to add a little oil to each jar before sealing it.