Tag: aubergine

Tortang Talong

23 December 2025

Perhaps you wonder what kind of fish we prepared for this post. Well, actually, it’s Tortang Talong, a Philippine dish made with charred eggplant. Earlier this year we made banana ketchup and the idea was to serve it with Tortang Talong, but we couldn’t find the right eggplants. For Tortang Talong you need long, purple, slender eggplants, known as Chinese or Japanse eggplants. They not only look different from the oblong eggplant, their taste is slightly sweeter and softer. The shape is key to a moist and homogenous result.

Thanks Monch Weller for introducing us to the delectable sauce and the very tasty Tortang Talong!

Food Pairing

Serve Tortang Talong with banana ketchup as a starter. We could also imagine it as a side dish with fried vegetables, rice and perhaps chicken.

What You Need
  • 2 Chinese or Japanese Eggplants
  • 1 Egg
  • Black Pepper
  • (optional) Salt
  • Oil
What You Do
  1. Grill the eggplants for 5-10 minutes using the wire rack, following the instructions of your oven
  2. Flip and grill for another 5-10 minutes or until charred
  3. Let cool
  4. Peel of the skin
  5. Use a fork to flatten the eggplants
  6. Combine egg, salt (if using) and pepper
  7. Beat the mixture well
  8. Heat a heavy iron skillet
  9. Add oil to the skillet
  10. Dip the eggplant in the mixture
  11. Fry the eggplant
  12. Flip and use a brush to coat the top with the egg mixture
  13. Repeat step 12, two or three times

Eggplant Omelette

2 October 2025

Having made Banana Ketchup, we were keen to explore what kind of food would combine well with it. Monch Weller wrote us: It’s often paired with fried food here in the Philippines – spring rolls (both meat and vegetable versions), fried chicken, and eggplant omelette.
The ketchup paired nicely with vegetarian rolls, but not as well as hot sweet and sour sauce.
We decided to make an eggplant omelette, known as Tortang Talong in the Philippines. The eggplant is grilled, peeled, flattened, dipped in an egg mixture and fried in oil. The outside crispy and brown, the inside soft and moist. Best to use the long and slender purple variety, for instance Chinese or Japanese eggplant.
Our eggplant was a standard eggplant, large and oblong. Very different in size and shape compared to the one used in the Philippines. We were not sure how we could turn our eggplant into Tortang Talong. Slice it? Fan it? Or mash it and add the eggplant to the egg mixture?

What You Need
  • 1 regular or Italian Eggplant
  • 2 Eggs
  • Small Garlic Clove
  • Black Pepper
  • (optional) Salt
  • Oil
What You Do
  1. Heat your oven to 230°C or 450°F
  2. Poke the eggplant with a fork. This allows for steam to escape
  3. Place the eggplant on lightly oiled aluminium foil
  4. Roast the eggplant for 30-40 minutes, depending on the size
  5. Let cool
  6. Peel of the skin
  7. Mash the eggplant, but not too much
  8. Combine eggs, salt (if using) and pepper
  9. Beat the mixture well
  10. Add the mashed eggplant. We used 2/3 of our eggplant. Combine
  11. Add grated garlic and mix again
  12. Add oil to a small skillet, set to medium heat
  13. Add the mixture and fry until brown
  14. Flip the omelette and fry the other side until brown
  15. Slice the omelette and serve immediately
  16. Serve with banana ketchup
PS

When we can buy a long slender eggplant, we will prepare the original Tortang Talong. To be continued!

Banana Ketchup was invited in the Philippines. It’s spicy, smooth and flavorful.
Eggplant Omelette ©cadwu combined with banana ketchup

Banana Ketchup

25 September 2025

A few weeks ago we were reading Monch Wellers food and lifestyle blog. He writes about Via Mare, a Filipino restaurant that opened its doors 50 years ago. In his blog Monch writes about the food Via Mare offers, for instance Spanish Hot Chocolate, Bibingka (rice cake), Crab Omelette with Banana Ketchup, Lumpiang Ubod (spring rolls made with heart of palm) and Puto Bumbong, a glutinous rice dyed violet and steamed in bamboo tubes. We learn so much about the Filipino food culture thanks to Monchs excellent blog!

Why Bananas?

Maria Orosa (1893–1945) was born in the Philippian province of Batangas, some 100 kilometres south of Manilla. She studied food chemistry and pharmacology in the US. She returned to the Philippines in 1922. She was a food chemist, innovator and war hero. She saw the potential of many local products, for instance bananas and soy, and used these to empower the Philippines. She invented Soyalac (a protein-rich powdered soybean product), Darák (bran rice powder rich in vitamins) and Tiki-Tiki cookies. The powders and cookies saved many lives during wartime food shortages in the Philippines.
One of her more frivolous inventions is Banana Ketchup. Why rely on imported tomatoes when it’s possible to make an equally tasty condiment using local bananas?

We loved the philosophy behind the ketchup and began searching for recipes. We noticed that tomato paste is often added, to give the ketchup a more familiar and appetizing colour. We didn’t do this. Afterall, the idea was not to use tomatoes. Plus: what’s wrong with the colour?

Food Pairing

The Banana Ketchup is smooth, its taste long, tangy, spicy and uplifting. The bananas give the ketchup natural sweetness and depth. They also support the spices. A condiment to love.
We asked Monch for his favourite combination. He wrote us: It’s often paired with fried food here in the Philippines – spring rolls (both meat and vegetable versions), fried chicken, and eggplant omelette (which was No. 2 in TasteAtlas’ 50 Best Egg Dishes). We tried it with eggplant omelette and vegetable spring rolls. The ketchup paired perfectly with the moist and more delicate flavours of the omelette.
Thanks Monch for introducing us to this unknown, delectable sauce!

What You Need
  • 2 small ripe Bananas
  • ½ Shallot
  • 2 cloves of Garlic
  • 20 grams fresh Ginger
  • ½ Kashimiri Pepper
  • 1/8 cup Brown Sugar
  • ¼ cup Rice Vinegar
  • ¼ cup Water
  • ¼ teaspoon Turmeric
  • Dash of Cinnamon and Nutmeg plus 1 Clove (replacing dash of All Spice)
  • Oil
What You Do
  1. Chop onion, garlic and ginger
  2. Mash the bananas
  3. Heat oil in a heavy iron skillet
  4. Add chopped onion and glaze, about 5 minutes
  5. Add garlic and ginger
  6. Leave on medium heat, stirring constantly
  7. Add bananas and combine
  8. After a few minutes add vinegar, water, sugar, spices and Kashmiri pepper
  9. When the mixture begins to simmer, reduce heat to low
  10. Leave for 15-20 minutes, stir regularly
  11. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes
  12. Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. This may take one or two minutes
  13. Pass through a sieve to get the right velvety smoothness
  14. Leave to cool before transferring the ketchup to the refrigerator
  15. Serve with eggplant omelette (recipe next week!)
  16. The ketchup will remain tasty for up to 3 days.
PS

In general, we find tomato ketchup too sweet, too salty and bland. Have we ever considered making our own tomato ketchup? No, we haven’t. We’re okay with a small bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup Zero, in case we have an irresistible craving for ketchup. Heinz doesn’t add sugar and salt to the Zero Ketchup. They add more tomatoes than usual (great) and a sweetener (pity). The taste? Well, still typically tomato ketchup. Fortunately, Banana Ketchup has far more flavour, spiciness and complexity.

Maria Orosa bust and plaque at the Historical Park, Philippines © Ramon F Velasquez
Banana Ketchup was invited in the Philippines. It’s spicy, smooth and flavorful.
Eggplant Omelette ©cadwu combined with banana ketchup

Caponata

4 April 2024

This very tasty dish originates from Sicily and is a mixture of chopped and fried vegetables. Eggplant (Aubergine), Tomatoes, Celery, rRed Onion and Green Olives are the main ingredients. The vegetables are prepared and served in an agrodolce sauce, so sweet and sour. Although we’re not keen on using sugar in a salad, in this case the combination of sugar and vinegar is perfect.
Perhaps the ingredients make you think of Ratatouille. Caponata and Ratatouille are very different dishes. Capanota is about fried vegetables, about crunchy celery, about sweet and sour.

Food and Wine Pairing

We served our Caponata with a roulade of pork with sage, rosemary, pancetta, black olives and black garlic. A dish we enjoyed with a glass of Barbera del Monferrato 2022, produced by Livio Pavese. In general, we suggest a full-bodied red wine with perhaps a touch of oak. Some acidity to balance the caponata and dark fruit (plums, blueberries).

The next day we served the Caponata with a roulade of chicken with pancetta, Parmesan Cheese and sage. A dish we enjoyed with a glass of Spätburgunder from the Pfalz area in Germany. In general, we suggest a medium bodied red wine with aromas of red fruit. Medium tannins and balanced acidity. Its taste dry, aromatic, fruity, juicy with a touch of strawberry.

You could also add some canned tuna (in olive oil) and serve the Caponata with crusted bread as a starter, perhaps accompanied with charcuterie and a glass of Crémant or Prosecco.

What you Need (recipe for 4)
  • 2 Aubergines
  • 400 grams excellent ripe Tomatoes
  • 10 Green Olives
  • Capers
  • 30 grams Tomato Puree
  • 4 cloves of Garlic
  • 4 small Red Onions
  • 3 stalks Celery
  • Tablespoon of Caster Sugar
  • Tablespoon of White Wine Vinegar
  • Black Pepper.
What You Do

Best to prepare Caponata one day ahead.

  1. Wash the vegetables.
  2. Slice the eggplant lengthwise in 8 and then in chunks. Drizzle with salt and mix. Put the chunks in a sieve and let rest above a bowl for one or two hours.
  3. Coarsely chop the onion.
  4. Quarter the tomatoes. Remove the internal hard bits and the pits and put these aside. Slice the outer part of the tomato lengthwise in three.
  5. Roughly cut the remainder of the tomatoes, add to a sieve and use the back of a spoon to capture the juices.
  6. Coarsely chop the garlic.
  7. Halve the olives.
  8. Use a knife to peel the back of the celery stalks, or ribs. Slice.
  9. Combine the tomato puree, black pepper, the caster sugar, the vinegar and the tomato juice.
  10. Set your oven to 140 °C or 285 °F.
  11. Discard the liquid of the eggplants, wash of the salt, dry with kitchen paper and fry the chunks in a generous amount of olive oil until golden.
  12. Transfer to a baking tray in your oven.
  13. Fry the onions and the celery until somewhat translucent. Add these to the baking tray.
  14. Now add the olives, the capers, the garlic, the tomato mixture and the tomatoes. Mix. Perhaps add a splash of water.
  15. Cover the baking tray with aluminium foil.
  16. After 20 minutes it’s time to mix the vegetables. Check if you need to add extra water.
  17. After another 20 minutes, remove and discard the foil, mix and increase the temperature to 160 °C or320 °F.
  18. Now you need to keep an eye on the mixture. It may take 10 to 20 minutes for the liquid to somewhat evaporate, but you don’t want the dish to become dry.
  19. When ready, let cool and transfer to the refrigerator.
Caponata ©cadwu
Caponata in Baking Tray ©cadwu
Caponata ©cadwu

Mushroom Caponata

5 May 2022

There must be hundreds of recipes for Caponata. The dish originates from Sicily and should contain (at least, we think so) eggplant (aubergine), celery and vinegar. Sugar is often added to enhance the sweetness and intensity. Nowadays it’s often a combination with tomatoes, shallot, capers, olives and perhaps raisins, pine nuts, oregano and basil.
The flavour of caponata should be slightly bitter (the eggplant) with a touch of sweetness (sugar, onion), acidity and saltiness (celery). The texture should be moist, but not sauce-like.
We love to enhance the flavours by adding mushrooms. And since we’re not keen on using sugar, we make sure the onions bring sufficient sweetness.

Enjoy your caponata as an appetizer, for instance with some crusted bread or bruschetta. A nice glass of white wine or rosé will be perfect with it. It’s also great as a side dish, with fish or even merguez.

Whatever the combination, caponata must be made one day ahead.

What You Need

  • 1 Aubergine
  • 200 grams of Mushrooms (preferably a mix with Shiitake)
  • 1 Red Onion
  • 1 Garlic Clove
  • 1 cm Red Chilli Pepper
  • Parsley
  • Celery
  • 2 tablespoons of White Wine Vinegar
  • Olive Oil
  • Fine Salt

What You Do

Wash the eggplant and slice. We slice the eggplant lengthwise in 8 and then we slice these strips. Salt them generously, transfer to a sieve and allow to drain for one or two hours. The more liquid they lose, the better! Rinse the eggplant with cold water and dry them with a kitchen cloth. Fry the aubergine in a heavy iron skillet until nicely golden brown. Set aside. Slice the red onion, clean and chop the mushrooms. Chop the garlic and the chilli pepper finely. Add some olive oil to the pan and fry the onion. Remove and set aside. Now fry the mushrooms. After 5 minutes or so add the garlic and the chilli pepper. After a few minutes add the mushrooms and the eggplant to the pan. Add chopped parsley and celery. Mix well. Add two spoons of white wine vinegar and leave on low heat for 10 minutes. Add black pepper to taste. Transfer to a plate and let cool. Keep in the refrigerator for the next day.

Mushroom Caponata with Bruschetta ©cadwu
Mushroom Caponata ©cadwu

Ratatouille

18 August 2021

Think summer vegetables, think Ratatouille! Which is also the title of a film released in 2007 about a rat called Remy with a passion for cooking. If you want to see how he prepares ratatouille then simply go to YouTube (or buy the DVD if you’re old fashioned like us).
Ratatouille brings back memories of summer, of the South of France, of the Mediterranean. It combines very well with a simple sausage, with lamb, with grilled chicken.
However you prepare your ratatouille, be sure to prepare it a day ahead. The taste becomes much more integrated after a day (or two) in the refrigerator. Unfortunately it doesn’t freeze well due to the eggplant.

Our recipe is very much the recipe of a dear friend. She taught us how to make ratatouille in her summer kitchen, overlooking the pool and the garden with herbs and vegetables. Indeed, fond memories.
To our surprise she added cilantro (you would expect thyme or basil) and many years later we are still grateful for this twist. The cilantro enhances the feeling of summer and it supports the various vegetables in a beautiful way.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our ratatouille with a glass of simple, red wine with lots of red and black fruits. Spicy with subtle tannins. A wine that brings summer to your glass.

What You Need (4 people)

  • 1 Eggplant or Aubergine
  • 1 Courgette or Zucchini
  • 1 Red Bell Pepper
  • 1 Chili Pepper
  • 4 Excellent Tomatoes
  • Cilantro
  • Olive oil

What You Do

Start by cutting the aubergine in small but not too small chunks. Drizzle with salt and mix. Let the mixture rest for a few hours, allowing for the aubergine to loose water and become firm. Best way to do this is by putting the aubergine in a sieve and let it rest above a bowl.
The tomatoes require some attention as well. You could peel them, but that’s optional. What is not optional is to separate the tomato meat and juices from the pits. First step is to remove the internal hard bits and the pits and put these aside. You now have the outer part of the tomato, which you can slice. Cut the remainder of the tomatoes roughly, add to a sieve and by using the back of a spoon make sure you capture the juices. Be surprised about the volume of tomato juice and the small amount of tomato bits and pits that remain in your sieve.

Cut the bell pepper into long slices and fry these in the pan with olive oil. Peel the courgette, slice in the way you sliced the aubergine and add to the pan. Continue frying. Add the finely chopped chilli pepper (not the seeds of course). Add the firm aubergine after having removed the remaining salt with water. After a few moments add the tomato chunks, fry a bit more, add the tomato juice and leave on low to medium heat for 60 minutes. Try not to stir too much; otherwise you risk creating mashed vegetables. Cool, set aside and store in the refrigerator.
The next day: if you have excess liquid, remove the vegetables from the liquid, reduce it until thickened and transfer the vegetables back into the pan. Otherwise gently warm the ratatouille, add some chopped cilantro, mix gently and add more cilantro just before serving.

Ratatouille ©cadwu
Ratatouille ©cadwu

A Classic for you – 1

3 February 2018

Ratatouille

Think summer vegetables, think Ratatouille! Which is also a comedy released in 2007 about a rat called Remy with a passion for cooking. If you want to see how he prepares ratatouille then simply enter Remy cooks ratatouille as search term in YouTube (or buy the DVD if you’re old fashioned like us).
Ratatouille brings back memories of summer, of the South of France, of the Mediterranean. Or for some, of their youth. It combines very well with a simple sausage, with lamb, with grilled chicken.
However you prepare your ratatouille, be sure to use courgette or zucchini, aubergine or eggplant, tomato and bell peppers. Also make sure you prepare it a day ahead. The taste becomes much more integrated after a day (or two) in the refrigerator.
Our recipe is very much the recipe of a dear friend. She taught us how to make ratatouille in her summer kitchen, overlooking the pool and the garden with herbs and vegetables. Indeed, fond memories.
To our surprise she added cilantro (you would expect thyme or basil) and many years later we are still grateful for this twist. The cilantro enhances the feeling of summer and it supports the various vegetables in a beautiful way.

We enjoyed our ratatouille with a glass of simple, red wine with lots of red and black fruits. Spicy. A wine that brings summer to your glass.

Here is what you need:

  • Aubergine
  • Courgette
  • Red Bell Pepper
  • Chili Pepper
  • Tomatoes
  • Cilantro
  • Garlic (optional)
  • Olive oil

If you combine 1 of each, with the exception of 3 tomatoes, this will serve 4 people.
Start by cutting the aubergine in small but not too small chunks. Drizzle with salt and mix. Let the mixture rest for a few hours, allowing for the aubergine to loose water and become firm. Best way to do this is by putting the aubergine in a sieve and let it rest above a bowl.
The tomatoes require some attention as well. You could peel them, but that’s optional. What is not optional is to separate the tomato meat and juices from the pits. First step is to remove the internal hard bits and the pits and put these aside. You now have the outer part of the tomato, which you can slice. Cut the remainder of the tomatoes roughly, add to a sieve and by using the back of a spoon make sure you capture the juices. Be surprised about the volume of tomato juice and the small amount of tomato bits that remain in your sieve.
Peel the courgette, slice in the way you sliced the aubergine and fry over medium heat in olive oil. In the mean time cut the bell pepper into long slices and add these to the pan. Continue frying. Add the finely chopped chilli pepper (not the seeds of course). Add the firm aubergine after having removed the remaining salt with water. After a few moments add the tomato chunks, fry a bit more, add the tomato juice (and the optional garlic) and leave on a medium heat for 30 minutes. Try not to stir too much; otherwise you risk creating mashed vegetables. Cool, set aside and store in the refrigerator.
The next day gently warm the ratatouille, add some chopped cilantro, mix and add more cilantro just before serving.