Monday, October 5, 2009

Red, red, red.

Some of you are probably going to think I have a 'red' fetish, since I've often photographed, for example, several women here who have brilliant red hair. It's now fall, and in Serbia it is the season for making ajvar , (EYE-var) which you can see in the jar and on the plate. It's made from roasted ground, eggplant, sweet red peppers, and garlic, and is eaten as a spread, an addition to roast meat, or just by itself. Yum. If you like it hot, add a hot pepper or two when you grind it.

And the red tablecloth has been in my family since I was a kid, and that's a long time ago...

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

My husband loves ajvar, but I honestly don't have ataste for it myself..but I've only had the store bought kind. Maybe it's one of those things that's better if you make it yourself:)

Lowell said...

I don't know about ajvar...guess I'd have to try it (without the hot pepper!)...

Brilliant red photograph and love the tablecloth! Priceless!

LA / nodecaf said...

Ajvar yum! I have been known to eat it by itself on chunks of crusty bread. Fresh is a wonderful fall treat. Thanks for another great photo showing a unique side of Serb culture.

Virginia said...

Ahh you know how much I love red. I think I'd be willing to try this. I think it looks delish!
V

Gaelyn said...

The ajvar sounds delicious and the reds are all wonderful. That's a beautiful old table cloth.

Alexa said...

Thanks for sharing—your beautiful photo, your family's tablecloth, your Serbian culture . . . all of it!
Would love to taste ajvar (do you suppose there's a restaurant in NYC where I can find it?).

B SQUARED said...

Funny! I've never noticed an obsession with red. I've had ajvar once. Loved it.

Rob said...

This sounds delicious, everything I like, garlic, red peppers and eggplant.

marley said...

I love all the red. And it looks very tasty too.

Re my caterpillar post. Thanks for pointing out the books title. That is what I had meant to put as the title to my post! The book has got to be one of the best childrens books ever!

Andreea said...

I love it. We have a version of it in Romania called "zacuscă".

Chuck Pefley said...

My neighbor just gave us some gorgeous peppers yesterday. How do you tell the sweet from the hot??

Delicious looking image ... of course you know you and I are in competition for the red award -:)

Pat said...

Chuck, to distinguish hot from sweet: take a bite! Ha, Ha.

Unknown said...

How appropriate - we just made some ajvar for the first time and it tastes quite good. The best part was the aroma of peppers roasting and having fun peeling them.

Thérèse said...

Yummy! Yummy! And it never lasts long...
I like the whole look of the picture (Virginia too... I noticed, lol)

Marie-Noyale said...

I too am a red person!!
Really like this vintage tablecloth.

Christine H. said...

I love avjar! Yum

Kim said...

Ooooo I adore red peppers and have been eating them in everything lately, or just by the slice, raw, with a bit of hummus. The spread sounds delicious, and I would be one to add a chili or two :-). Hey, I recognize those Penna Deutsche hearts and tulips! I think we had something like that in a multicolor that featured hex signs, too.
-Kim

Unknown said...

We love ajvar! I use Serbian paprika (pepper) seeds in my garden to grow over the summer and then we make ajvar. It never lasts long!

Here is my ajvar posting on the cooking blog I do with my brothers:
http://threesiblingsinthekitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/Ajvar

CROSS-CULTURE BREAKFAST

  Have been in India one week. I brought my hostess some ajvar, which she found goes very well on a chapati.