Ajvar: Balkan Pepper Spread!

 by neighborhoodfruit
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There as many ways to make Ajvar as their are mountain valleys in Eastern Europe. Ajvar is originally a Turkish dish. This method comes from Sarajevo. It is delicious on bread, crackers and toast.

The best is to use sweet peppers, aka Cubanelle peppers, Itallian peppers or Banana peppers. The color of the peppers make no difference in taste of Ajvar, but it does make a difference in color.

I grocery bag, approximately 5 pounds of peppers, yields one pint of Ajvar.

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius).
Wash the peppers, dry them and put them on cookie sheets.
 
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tsanders10 says: Mar 10, 2012. 12:48 AM
this is a recipe for a croatian ajvar i prepare every september. I have it in the freezer. Every freezer bag has 250 grams of ajvar. Just take it out and spread it on your bread sprinkle some feta and enjoy. You also can make pie and pizza filings with it.
5 kilos red sweet peppers, 1 kilo eggplant, 750 grams sunseed oil, 5 cloves garlic, 3 tablespoons red vine vinegar, 3 teaspoons salt, a few chilly peppers if you like hot spreads.
grill the peppers and the eggplants. peel them and put them in the food processor. Pour everything in a big pot and and simmer until the water from the evegetables evaporates and ajvar starts bubbling on the top. You will have to stir very often. Enjoy!
psyoper22 says: Oct 16, 2010. 8:33 AM
ever since i spent some time in the Balkans, i've been hooked on Ajvar. i live in nyc now and there's a large serbocroatian community, but the serbian specialty markets are so expensive due to the tariffs, $7.99 or more for a small jar.

i'm totally going to make my own now!! thanks for this instructable. i'm going to throw in a few spicy peppers....
Estinguisher says: Oct 14, 2010. 12:20 AM
Hi there, let me correct you a little.

The "Ajvar" is not a Turkish dish. Ajvar origins are in Serbia and now it's tradition food in Macedonia, both former Yugoslav republics. The name has Turkish origins because of an 500 years of Turkish influence over the country's. So shortly Ajvar is an Macedonian traditional dish. And for the recipe, in tradition like in the article you can use peppers of almost any kind but you also put eggplant prepared in the same way as the peppers. Approximately in 5 pounds of pepper goes 0.5 pounds of eggplant.

The dish goes well with mayo, pickles, cheese, olives etc.
psyoper22 in reply to EstinguisherOct 16, 2010. 8:28 AM
Ajvar is Serbocroatian, but if you go anywhere in the Balkans or Eastern Europe, especially with Bohemian roots, almost everyone claims it as their own.

the name comes from the Turkish word "Havyar", which means, "Caviar"...notice the similarities in the pronunciation.

also note the similarities in the processing of both the Ajvar and Caviar:
Ajvar: removing, cleaning, separating, and storing of the pepper flesh
Caviar: removing, cleaning, separating and storing of sturgeon/fish roe

it's basically pepper caviar! ^^
thomaskovac says: Oct 15, 2010. 6:19 AM
Oh, I love chilli! Mmmmm!
l8nite says: Oct 13, 2010. 10:21 PM
I dont know how I missed this ible earlier ! It sounds really good, as much as I enjoy the taste of sweet and cubanell peppers, I have to agree with Lemonie that going spicey is a must for me, my mouth is watering like crazy just thinking about a jalapeno spread
zascecs says: Oct 13, 2010. 4:27 PM
Good stuff, it actually goes really well with quesadillas.
lemonie says: Nov 12, 2009. 1:22 PM
Yes, that looks good, I might have a go with some chilli.

L
neighborhoodfruit (author) in reply to lemonieNov 12, 2009. 2:18 PM
Spice it up, absolutely!
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