Friday, February 4, 2011

Liver eggplant, sisig and porridge pancake

Liver eggplant in spicy tomato sauce
Today's Food Diary
Breakfast: Muesli
Dinner: Pickled herring with bread, muesli
Baking/sweets: Bread

I planned to cook liver and eggplant and searched for recipes on the web. An Israeli dish called ‘eggplant chopped liver’ was one of the more popular results. Eggplant chopped liver was created in the 1940’s/50’s when Israel was a poor country. It sounds logical to use secondary cuts of meat, it is generally cheaper and has higher nutritional value.

I was excited to cook an Israeli dish, something I had never done before. But my excitement was short-lived. Eggplant chopped liver has no liver, and its certainly not chopped. There is eggplant, so one point out of three. Why name it eggplant chopped liver, why not be even more creative and call it “eggplant pureed foie gras”, “eggplant braised veal cheeks”…?

Including ‘liver’ in the name of a dish that has no liver seems counterintuitive. Generally people are more likely to be put off by liver than be attracted to it. It is like including the word ‘beef’ in a vegetarian dish.

Anyway I still had liver and eggplant to take care of and with no help from the Israeli’s I was left on my own. Liver eggplant in spicy tomato sauce was created. It has liver, eggplant, tomato sauce and spices. I must admit I was tempted to use my newly acquired naming knowledge to come up with a more creative name.

Liver eggplant in spicy tomato sauce has a subtle irony taste, almost unnoticable. For those who are not keen fans of liver, liver eggplant in spicy tomato sauce can probably be a first step, after eggplant chopped liver of course. If you are bit more daring chicken liver and smoked sausage parfait could be an option. But this special dish is reserved for the very brave souls.

I finished off my satisfying lunch with a cup of “coffee and curdled spiced donkeys milk”.

Today's Favourite Photo
Source: Ang Sarap
Sisig - A Pilipino dish made with secondary cuts of meat


Today's Favourite Blog
Accidents have produced notable outcomes. A shepherd left his lunch comprising of bread and ewe's milk cheese in a cave to run after a woman. He came back to the cave empty handed to discover his cheese turned into Roquefort cheese. Tarte Tatin was created by accident in 1898 and in 1905 Frank Epperson created a popsicle by accident. More recently eat tori created the accidental porridge pancake. You probably have not read about eat tori in the history books yet, the accident happened a day or two ago.

Rolled oats were accidentally cooked for a little longer than intended. Porridge became pancake, "crispy and squishy" like a "sweet bloated dosa" (as described by the inventor).

Pancake is probably the last station on the rolled oats line, you won’t get oat cookie if you push it further.

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8 comments:

  1. Interesting dish. Never heard of liver eggplant.

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  2. I have never come across anything like this. Very interesting.

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  3. Last station on the rolled oats line. Dang. Great line. Really wish I'd thought of it :)

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  4. Both pictures make me drool! That is a great "flop". Pancake-like oat porridge, mmmhhh...

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  5. I love eggplant, but have never had liver. I might have to build myself up to trying this one!

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  6. Interesting post...I've never heard of anything like this. But I'm intrigued!

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  7. Now this is what we in the U.S. call down-home cooking. Your photos are wonderful and while I've not had most of what you've featured, I'm certainly willing to try it all. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  8. Ellie (Almost Bourdain): thanks for the compliments
    Quay Po Cooks: thank you for visiting, and pleased to discover your blog
    tori: Thanks, I will take the compliment for the line, the last station belongs to you:)
    Rosa's Yummy Yums: if only all flops turned out this way:)
    Lindsay: start with Israeli eggplant liver to get used to eating liver without liver:)
    Catherine: thanks for the complements
    Mary: 'down-home cooking' - thats a new term for me.

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