Eggplant and Cheese Casserole: Almodrote de Berengena

Casseroles consisting of eggs, vegetables, and cheese are a mainstay of Sephardic cooking. They go by many names: fritada, sfoungato, quajado, cuajada, esponga, or, in Syria, sabanigh b’jiben. And, last but not least, almodrote. Hailing from Turkey, it can be made with eggplant, spinach or zucchini, and while all are delicious, I’m partial to this eggplant variety, since it’s the first one I tried—and also the most popular.

According to Gil Marks, almodrote differs from, say, fritada, in that the former contains a lower ratio of eggs, with a heavier focus on the vegetables and cheese, with an almost custard-like texture.

Gil Marks writes that by the thirteenth century in Spain, Sephardim were frying patties of eggplant, cheese, and eggs, the first known occasion of these three ingredients being combined. In the centuries that followed, home ovens became more common in Spain, and baked dishes featuring the same set of ingredients arose.

According to Ana Gómez-Bravo, the surviving written recipes for almodrote from fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Spain instruct cooks to vigorously pound shredded cured cheese and raw garlic into a paste, which is sprinkled on top of boiled eggplant. Today’s almodrote recipes typically include feta cheese, or a mix of feta and a firmer cheese like gruyere, and eggs to thicken the sauce. They may also eliminate the garlic and roast rather than boil the eggplant.

The addition of bread crumbs/matzah meal/mashed potato is distinctly Turkish and helps to firm up the texture so that the almodrote holds together when it is removed from the pan.

Almodrote is served warm as an appetizer for Friday night dinners and as a main dish at dairy meals for the holidays, as well as at room temperature for desayuno (Shabbat brunch). It is typically served with salad and either bread or, on Passover, matzah.

The word almodrote derives from the Arabic al-matruq (hammered), originally the name of an early Sephardic olive oil, cheese, and garlic sauce commonly used with eggplant. The sauce evolved from the ancient Roman moretum, a curd cheese, herb, and garlic paste (like pesto) crushed with a mortar and pestle.

Claudia Roden calls almodrote “one of the best-loved and most distinctive Jewish dishes of Turkey, the one everyone mentions as their favorite,” and I totally see why. It’s absolutely delicious; the salty, savory cheeses complement the eggplant so well, and there’s just something so more-ish about it, as the Brits might say.

Roden adds that a similar dish of mashed eggplant, eggs, and cheese is mentioned in the Spanish Inquisition records as a giveaway of Jewish faith, and that the only similar dish she’s seen elsewhere is the Provencal papeton d’aubergines.

She leaves the question open as to whether the two are connected, but Joan Nathan takes a stronger stance in Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France, asserting that the dish, which hails from the city of Avignon and translates roughly as “aubergines [eggplants] in the manner of the Pope’s hat,” does have Jewish origins and is a relative of almodrote de berengena.

It certainly seems plausible. Avignon was the seat of the papacy for most of the fourteenth century, and during that time Jews—who had been expelled from the rest of France—were permitted to live in the area under papal control (Avignon, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Cavaillon, and Carpentras).

Indeed, they were the only non-Catholic religious group tolerated—though they were, for the most part, restricted to moneylending or trading in secondhand textiles and furniture, and were forced to live in ghettos that were locked at night. Men had to wear yellow badges to mark themselves as outsiders, and women were required to sew a piece of yellow fabric on to their bonnets.

This version of almodrote is slightly adapted from Gil Marks’s Olive Trees and Honey.

Turkish Eggplant and Cheese Casserole (Almodrote de Berengena)

Olive oil, to coat pan

2 eggplants (about 2 ½ pounds total)

1 cup (5 ounces) crumbled feta

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded kashkaval, Gruyere, or cheddar, or additional feta

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

¾ cup bread crumbs, matzah meal, or mashed potatoes

½ teaspoon salt

Black pepper to taste

Light a fire in a charcoal grill or preheat the broiler. Cut several slits in the eggplants. Roast over the hot coals or 5 inches from the heat source of the broiler, turning occasionally, until charred and tender, about 40 minutes. Or place on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 400°F oven until very tender, about 50 minutes. Let stand long enough so that you can handle, then peel the eggplant. Place in a colander and let drain for about 30 minutes. Coarsely chop.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a shallow 8-cup baking dish, such as an 8-inch square or a 7-by-11 inch dish.

In a large bowl, combine the feta cheese, ½ cup of the shredded cheese (or an additional ½ cup of feta), the eggs, the crumbs/matzah meal/potato, salt, and pepper. Stir in the eggplant. Pour into the prepared dish.

Bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup cheese and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. If you like your cheese extra crispy, broil for 2-4 minutes at the end before removing from the oven. Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature. This keeps well in the refrigerator for at least 3 days.

Sources: “Almodrote: The Story Behind the Recipe,” The Converso Cookbook, University of Washington Stroum Center for Jewish Studies (Ana Gómez-Bravo, October 7, 2014); The Book of Jewish Food (Claudia Roden, 1996); Encyclopedia of Jewish Food (Gil Marks, 2010); “Following the Trail of the ‘Pope’s Jews’ in Provence,” the Washington Post (Jules B. Farber, March 1, 2009); Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities around the World (Gil Marks, 2004); Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France (Joan Nathan, 2010)

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