Today

Today, I made my Armenian grandmother proud. I roasted an eggplant.

I'm quite vocal about my half Armenian half Russian Jewish heritage, and if you know me even minutely well, you'll have heard me boast about each side at least once or twice, despite the fact that I'm up to the third generation notch on both belts.

My pride for my Armenian side definitely does not stand alone, however. If you meet any of the members of my mother's family you'll discover that they too, are quite chatty about any iota of Armenian blood that they've got churning through them. For many this can be quite a puzzling fact... especially upon witnessing one of us meet a person that's actually from Armenia (we tend to say the only five words that we know and lapse into a discussion of what our grandparents have told us about "the old country"). Nevertheless, you only need to do one thing to understand the origin of our strange pride- pick up a plate of Armenian food.

I can imagine it now- one of my grandmother's old white plates, stacked high with with lamb shish-kebab, a generous portion of rice pilaf, yalanchi (our version of dolmas), and a brilliant green salad. On the table is dampened lavash (flat bread) with a nice pile of hand-pulled string cheese that's been flecked with darkened sesame seeds, all accompanied by a platter of cured meats. Now that's a cuisine to be proud of.

And it's the food that brings us together- we celebrate holidays with shish kebab, or lamb burgers (with parsley, mint, and chopped shallots buried within). We bond while shredding string cheese or rolling yalanchis. And now that we've all become so busy, we catch up by talking about it all... from the lavash and klehma to the new baby in the family, and my aunt's latest art project.

Strangely enough, there usually aren't too many eggplants involved in our feasts.... but as I've heard from my cousins that have been to Armenia, eggplant is pretty common (i.e. "I can't eat another eggplant in my life. That's all we ate there. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.") I'm sure that their experience isn't the true norm, but I figured I might as well keep considering eggplant in my list of "Armenian" foods.

So last week, when I was on the phone with my grandmother, the conversation naturally turned to what I was cooking... and as I mentioned all of the vegetables resting in my crisper drawer that were fresh for the plucking, I felt a long pause on the line. Then the inevitable came: "Why don't you try roasting an eggplant?"

Truthfully, I'm sure that I'm not alone in saying that when I think of eggplant, I can't shake the mushy, grey images of it from my mind. However, given that my grandmother is the family expert on Armenian cooking, and that she roasts and/or stuffs eggplants often, I thought I'd give her suggestion a try. Let's just say, I've already repeated it twice and have another eggplant waiting for me in the fridge.

My recipe is simple, and I like it that way. It also involves tomatoes, and since we're at the final edge of that season I invite you to try this right away!

Roasted Eggplant and Tomatoes

1 large eggplant, or 2 smaller ones
4 roma tomatoes
2-3 tbs olive oil
a handful of fresh oregano
a handful of fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Wash and slice the eggplant horizontally into rounds that are about a centimeter or so thick. Wash and slice the tomatoes similarly. Place sliced vegetables in a bowl and toss with a glug or two of olive oil (eggplants tend to absorb a lot of oil so you really just want them coated lightly). Then season with salt and pepper (the salt is really important for the eggplants- don't leave that out!) Next, tear up pieces of oregano and basil to make sure that each slice is covered with some herbs. Finally, place on a baking sheet and throw in the oven. You'll want to cook them for 40 minutes to an hour... the tomatoes will break down in the most beautiful way, and the eggplant should be neither too mushy nor too crunchy.

Eat as a side, or main. I'd serve the vegetables with a poached egg or along side some fresh mozzarella or buratta... and some crustry French bread.

Enjoy!