According to the memoirs of Warrant Officer Alevtina Georgievna Kerina, the chef of the Special Cuisine, who worked there from 56 to 83, representatives of the highest party elite of the USSR were very unassuming in their choice of dishes. Yes, on the tables, especially during banquets, real masterpieces were served - not only culinary, but also masterpieces design art, so to speak, because the complexity of the design of me is still striking.
But alongside with them, the menu always included rather “simple” dishes.
For example, Suslov, it turns out, was very fond of her oriental pilaf, despite the fact that due to diabetes he was rather picky about food.
And Brezhnev is a dish that Alevtina Georgievna in her memoirs called "bayalda"
Frankly, for a while this name puzzled me. Because "bayalda" now, in the form in which the recipe goes on the Internet, makes me suspicious. This is a vegetable dish that can be made as a preparation for the winter and in which tomato paste is put on loan.
Why - it is clear, for the sake of economy. And money and time. But I doubt very much that it was cooked like this in the Special Kitchen.
And then it dawned on me, bayalda is a simplified name for Imam bayaldi, either a Turkish snack, or cold, or hot vegetable dish in which eggplants are soloed, and which... well, right fingers lick it!
Discrepancies in the recipe arise due to the fact that bayaldi in one form or another exists in the cuisines of almost all Balkan countries, and even in Iran, they write, they cook it. And in some countries, imam bayaldi is made as a blank for a deputy, cutting eggplants into thin slices and then fried, stewing in tomato sauce with onions, peppers, and garlic, and somewhere - with the classic, so to speak, his option.
I think the classic imam bayaldi was served in the Special Kitchen - because it is not only tasty, but also looks very impressive.
For the classic version we take:
• Eggplant - six pieces
• Fresh tomatoes - seven not too large
• Onions - a couple of heads
• Sweet pepper - a couple of pieces
• Chili - one small, fresh
• Olive oil (replacement option - sunflower)
• Aromatic herbs (fresh), large bunch of cilantro and parsley, you can add whatever you like, but not dill
• Garlic - a couple of cloves
• Salt pepper.
My eggplants, we make a deep incision along the eggplant that does not cut through it (that is, we rip it open only on one side) and send it to an oven preheated to 180 degrees for about an hour. Whether you remove the stalks or not is up to you, the stalks look nicer, but that's for my taste.
While they are baking, prepare the filling: cut the pepper into small pieces, fry, remove from the pan. We make mashed potatoes from tomatoes - that is, blanch, peel, chop with a knife or on a grater.
Cut the onion into rings in a quarter, the chili into rings, cleaning the seeds to avoid excessive spiciness.
First, send the onion into a pan with heated oil - fry until golden brown, then the tomatoes, and simmer for a few minutes. The next step is bell pepper (fried), and simmer until soft. You should not cover with a lid, the liquid must evaporate.
When all this becomes thick enough, add finely chopped garlic, chili pepper, salt, pepper, heat for a couple of minutes and remove from the stove.
There, and the eggplants arrived. We lubricate each of them with oil, and the incision that we made, if possible, expand it further, trying not to damage the eggplant itself.
Now mix the filling with chopped herbs and stuff the eggplant.
Pour the filling that has not fit into the eggplant onto the bottom of a heat-resistant form, put the eggplant on it and send it to the oven for 30 minutes (approximately) at a temperature of 180 degrees. Sprinkle with nuts on top.
Bon Appetit!