Malidzano

A few years ago we ventured into making our own preserves with jams and lazy lutenitza. This year we are expanding the variety with malidzano.

Malidzano (also spelled malijano, malidjano; the sound is dg as in judge) is a Macedonian spread, made out of grilled green bell peppers, eggplans, oil, salt and mustard. Although North Macedonia is right next door, so to speak, the recipe was not popular here until recently - a pity, as it is one of the best tasting veggie spreads out there and very easy to make. And because the name of the spread comes from the Italian word for eggplant (melanzane) and the spread has a definite warm, southern connotation, I'm discretely flaunting my Mediterranean plants in these pictures - the seed-grown  lemon tree and my new acquisition - the bougainvillea, which delighted us with its absolutely gorgeous colors already twice this year. 

The process of making malidzano is fairly simple, though time and effort consuming (but totally worth it!). Grill the peppers and the eggplants (I grill them in a small pepper roaster, but you can do it any way you grill veggies at home), let them cool, then remove the grilled skin of the veggies and mince them (we use a hand mincer) or blend them, if you prefer smoother texture. 

 

Then add vegetable oil (we prefer sunflower oil), salt to taste and a few teaspoons of mild mustard (the mustard is optional, but I find it really essential for the unique taste of the malidzano), and the spread is ready to be served or preserved.

Recipe (proportions per one eggplant):

• 1 eggplant
• 4 green bell peppers
• 40 g sunflower oil (450 g to 4.5 kg of minced product)
  
• salt (3 tablespoons to 4.5 kg of minced product)
• mustard (2 teaspoons to 4.5 kg of minced product)

We preserve the malidzano is glass jars, boiled for 20 min (timed after the water has reached 100C and began boiling).