Eggplant grows luxuriantly in the southern regions of Ukraine. This spread, called "ikra" (mock caviar) in Ukrainian, is a popular appetizer when eggplant is in season. Good with cold meat or just on a piece of rye bread, yummy!

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant, or 3-4 long oriental eggplants
2 small onions, chopped fine
3 tablespoons cooking oil
3 cloves garlic, mashed
4 to 5 tomatoes, or 4 tablespoons ketchup or more to taste
2 tablespoons lemon juice or mild vinegar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley
2 teaspoons salt
Pepper

Directions:

Wash and cook the eggplant in boiling water to cover for about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool. Cut off the stem end, remove the skin, and chop the eggplant as fine as possible, or bake eggplant in the oven till soft then scrape out the filling and discard skin.

Cook the onion in the oil until tender. Add the peeled and chopped tomatoes and cook, uncovered, until fairly thick. The mixture should be of a thick puree consistency. Stir in the lemon juice or vinegar, ketchup if not using tomatoes or you can add some tomatoes and some ketchup together, add the seasonings and mashed garlic. Cook for 15 more minutes.

Chill thoroughly. Use it as a spread on canapes or as a relish with cold meat.