Ingredients
1 zucchini
1 olive oil
1 garlic, minced
1 basil, fresh, shredded salt pepper
1 wine vinegar
Directions
An ancient Roman Jewish dish No quantities are given "as they are not
important; Concia can be prepared to be more less piquant, according
to taste, by increasing or decreasing the quantity of herbs and
spices. It freezes beautifully in a tightly closed container, but it
must be used within a few days if stored in the refrigerator or after
thawing, being a rather perishable food. Eggplant was also prepared
as Concia in Rome, but its texture is less desirable than eggplant.
Trim off the ends of the zucchini; then cut each one in half; slice
each half thinly lengthwise and place slices on paper towel to dry
for several hours or overnight. Fry in hot olive oil in a single
layer until golden brown on both sides. Arrange in layers in glass,
plastic or porcelain container and season each layer with small
amounts of garlic, basil, salt and pepper, and a sprinkle of vinegar.
Cover the container and store in the refrigerator at least several
hours before using. The flavour will be enhanced if you turn the
Concia as a block inside the container a few times while it is
marinating to allow the juices to seep through.
Servings: 1 servings
Concia (Marinated Eggplant) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Eggplant; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
Historians have tracked the existance of recipes far back into the far past, certainly as far back into history as pharonic Egypt, and potentially, even further back. Having said that, mostly, these ancient cook books were just simple hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for food preparation.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe found, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are a few clay tablets in Sumerian which show the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making people feel blissful and exhilarated. During the time of the Roman Empire a roman called Apicius created some documents detailing recipes enjoyed by wealthy roman citizens. In his scrolls, Apicius tells us how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into appetizers, main meal and dessert, something that is very familiar to us today. He also recounts how the ancient chefs were skilled in the use of many spices and herbs, including many that are still in use today like bay, mint and dill. As our culinary historical trip moves on a few more years we find a couple of recipe books which were published in the fourteenth century ; one book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. Don`t be fooled by the titles though, these two books are unconnected to the indian food that appears on menues today, but rather recipes for the types of meals prepared by the chefs of the upper classes of that period. In the fifteenth century, people returning from the crusades brought back a variety of foods and herbs from the East, including spices like rosemary and coriander. The introduction of these new foods and spices led to an eruption in publications on food, some of which still exist in private collections. Over the following few hundred years, the powerful and rich competed to serve the most extravagent meals, and as a result the best chefs and their recipe collections were highly sought after. Notwithstanding that, it was during the 19th century that fine cookery and recipe publications became really popular. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, devoted much of their lives to collating, testing, and recording recipes that were common in the better off homes of the day. By the arrival of the 20th century, cookbooks are highly popular mostly as a result of increased literacy, people having increased spare time and being a little richer. The introduction of television gave us TV cooks and the demand for the accompanying recipe books. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the internet revolution, permitting us all to access massive numbers of recipes like the ones you can find on this recipe site. |
We hope you enjoy this Concia (Marinated Eggplant) recipe.
