Lamb Stew with Eggplant Sauce

Name: Lamb Stew with Eggplant Sauce
Yield: serves 6
Ingredients: 1 large onion, chopped; 3 tablespoons sunflower oil; 2 pounds boned leg or neck fillet of lamb; 1 pound tomatoes, peeled and chopped; 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste; Salt and black pepper; 3 pounds eggplants; 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) butter; 3 tablespoons flour; 2 1/4 cups milk; Salt; Good pinch of nutmeg; 1/2 cup grated cheese (see above)

December 9, 2011

One legend surrounding the name of the sauce, hünkâr beğendi, which means “Her Majesty’s delight,” places it in 1869 when the Sultan Abdul Aziz entertained Empress Eugénie (my Istanbul grandmother was named after her), wife of Napoleon III, in his white rococo palace of Beylerbey on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. The empress was so enchanted by the pale, creamy, eggplant purée that she asked for the recipe to be given to her cooks. The sultan’s cook explained that he could not pass on the recipe because he “cooked with his eyes and his nose.” In Turkey, they use mature kasar, a hard yellow cheese, or Gruyère in the sauce, but mature Cheddar can be used too. Serve it with rice pilaf (page 193).

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