peppers, reconsidered

I am not a fan of the sweet pepper. They take over dishes until that is all one can taste. I believe I have referred to them as the imperialist vegetable.

But all that is starting to change. It's pepper season right now, which means everyone buys tons of peppers to preserve for the winter.

Along with pickling, they turn them into my new favorite food, ajvar. Ajvar (eye-var for those of you who don't know Serbian) is a savory spread of eggplant, tomato, and sweet pepper. It's like ratatouille with the consistency of jam. It is delicious.

I was praising it last night over dinner #2 .(I haven't figured out meals here. When I expect there to be food there isn't. When I don't, there is. Most days, I end up eating either 2 or 4 meals.) People came into the office bearing food at 10pm last night. I had had dinner #1 a few hours previously & didn't want to refuse their generosity. Upon hearing my praises of the ajmak, S offered to bring me a few jars of ajvar & some apricot jam that her sister makes. She said she'd bring me 10 kilos of each - I couldn't figure out if that was a promise or a threat.

We'll see if I'm still praising the stuff after consuming over 20 pounds of it.