Aubergines with Buttermilk Sauce (again!)

Early this morning, one of my neighbours knocked on my door and suggested a barbeque at her place in the evening with some other neighbours. Such spontaneity is not common in Switzerland and I happen to love informal gatherings like these at short notice.

Given that one neighbour happens to be a vegetarian, the first dish that came to my mind was Yotam Ottolenghi’s Aubergines with Buttermilk Sauce which I made for the first time only a few weeks ago.

This time around, I chose much smaller aubergines as they were to be eaten as a side dish alongside other grilled vegetables. I still roasted them for about 40 minutes until they were soft and golden in colour, though they were probably still a bit too firm for my liking – it probably had something to do with the variety of aubergine and perhaps even my oven in Zurich.

Interestingly, the buttermilk sold in Zurich is much more liquid than what I had used previously in the US. So the sauce was much runnier, which I had tried to thicken by using more Greek yoghurt. And thankfully, I was able to find za’atar in Zurich so there was more flavour to the dish this time.

Overall, the aubergines still tasted great but I would roast them for a bit longer next time. They definitely did well as part of a barbeque dinner.

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6 comments

  1. peppercorns in my pocket 7 August 2011

    love the photography and styling on your gorgeous blog. the aubergines must be as delicious as they look. the colours come together so beautifully.
    glad to have stumbled in.

    Reply
  2. hearthstrung 8 August 2011

    beautiful. I love Ottolenghi and it looks like you really did the recipe justice! I hope the barbeque was really fun.

    Reply
  3. They look stunning! I love the combination of eggplant and pomegranates too! 🙂

    Reply
  4. thepatternedplate 28 August 2011

    Oh my goodness, those photos are incredible! The colours! The colours! I love this recipe passionately and yes, it would make a fantastic BBQ side dish…I would imagine that if the aubergines were done on the BBQ so as to get that smokey flavour tempered with the buttermilk, would be rather good too!

    Lovely review Thanh…and ever a pleasure looking at your pics! :-))

    Reply
  5. Patricia¨s Delight 23 July 2014

    Love the presentation of your dish, looks so delicious I feel i can actually taste it !! One thing I do need to know… what is the herve you use? I could not find anywhere what you used . Do let us know how was your BBQ 😉

    Reply
    • Eat, Little Bird 23 July 2014

      Do you mean what herb I used? It’s lemon thyme. Hope you will enjoy this recipe.

      Reply