Serbian · sauce/condiment

Ajvar (Roasted Red Pepper and Aubergine Relish)

Name: Ajvar (Roasted Red Pepper and Aubergine Relish)
Prep time: 12 h 20 min
Total time: 12 h 20 min
Cuisine: Serbian
Ingredients: red sweet pepper — 5000 g; eggplant — 1000 g; sunflower oil — 368 g; red wine vinaigrette — 60 g; salt — 35 g; garlic — 18 g; mild ground chilli — 5 g; water — 500 g

Ajvar (Roasted Red Pepper and Aubergine Relish) reads sweetness 7.5, salinity 4.7 and allium 4.4 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Serbian sauce/condiment, about 12 hr 20 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 5.3 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 8.5 / 10
Sour & Bright — 4.7 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 4.5 / 10
Rich & Fat — 4.3 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.6 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 7.5 · Salinity 4.7 · Allium 4.4 · Sourness 4.1 · Earthy 4.1 · Richness 3.6 · Fruity 3.4 · Umami 3.3 · Bitterness 2.4 · Nutty 2.1 · Funk & Ferment 1.8 · Citrus 1.8 · Warm Spice 1.0 · Floral 0.6 · Herbaceous 0.6 · Smoke 0.6

What's in it (8)

red sweet pepper — 5000 g
eggplant — 1000 g
sunflower oil — 368 g
red wine vinaigrette — 60 g
salt — 35 g
garlic — 18 g
mild ground chilli — 5 g
water — 500 g

Time & effort: about 12 hr 20 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 24.4 kcal, 0.9 g protein, 0.3 g fat, 5.5 g carbs

Dietary: Vegan — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

Roast the peppers and the whole aubergines over a wood fire, a charcoal grill or a gas flame, turning them every few minutes, for 20 to 25 minutes, until the skins are blistered black in patches and the flesh has slumped. The smoke is not a garnish here; it is half the flavour, and an oven at 240C gives you a decent but plainer ajvar.
Pile the hot peppers into a pot, cover it, and leave them 20 minutes to sweat. The steam lifts the skins off the flesh.
Peel and seed everything, and scrape the aubergine flesh out of its skin. Work over a bowl but do not be tempted to keep the juice.
Tip the flesh into a colander set over a bowl and let it drain in a cool place overnight, at least 8 hours. Water is the enemy of ajvar. Skipping this is why homemade ajvar goes thin and sour in the jar.
Mince the drained flesh coarsely, through the wide plate of a mincer or with a heavy knife. A food processor gives you a puree, which is a different and lesser product.
Cook the minced flesh in a wide heavy pot over medium-high heat, adding the oil in three additions as the mixture stiffens, stirring almost continuously with a wooden spoon for 2 hours 30 minutes. It is ready when a spoon drawn across the bottom leaves a clean trail that holds for a count of three and no water runs into it.
Stir in the vinegar, salt, garlic and the chilli if you are making it hot, and cook 5 minutes more.
Ladle boiling hot into scalded jars, seal, and turn them upside down on a cloth until cold. Kept in a cool dark place they will hold a year, and the flavour rounds out after a month.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Barszcz (Beet Soup / Borscht) — Polish
Zacuscă (Autumn Roasted Aubergine and Pepper Preserve) — Romanian
Urojo (Zanzibar Mix) — Swahili Coast
Caponata Siciliana — Italian · Sicily
Sloppy Joes on Toasted Buns — American

Keep reading: what sweetness, salinity, allium mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.