Lamb stew with aubergines purée - A dish embraced by legends...

This is a dish based on a traditional recipe which we, actually, share with the Turkish cuisine and this culinary miracle happened thanks to the Greeks from Asia Minor. That's why the recipe is, mainly, a speciality in areas of Greece where a lot of these people had to settle down after "immigrating" from Constantinople (Istanbul), Smyrna (Izmir), or other parts of Anatolia (Asia Minor). The actual name of the dish (in Turkish) is "Hünkar Beğendi" and it can be translated in a few different ways like : "the Sultan’s Delight", "the Sultan’s Pleasure", "the Sultan liked It", "the Sultan approved", "Her Majesty’s Delight" and "Her Majesty’s Favourite". This "Her Majesty" has its explanation and it is related to how this dish, according to a legend, might got its name. Although nobody really can be sure about the beginning of the recipe, there are a couple of stories (legends) around it but nobody ever managed definitely to establish its origin. The first legend about the recipe is from the early 17th century concerning the Sultan Murad IV (who was half-Greek by the way...). The story says that the dish was created for the first time for him in the Palace kitchens and he fell in love with it. Simple as that! The other legend says that the dish was offered to a French empress in the late 19th century (1869) and it goes like this (according to a 1969 book about the art of turkish cooking): Apparently the Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon the III, was in Istanbul as a guest of the Ottoman Emperor, the Sultan Abdulaziz. She madly loved the aubergines purée they offered her as a dish, which was a specialty of the Topkapi Palace. She asked the Emperor if he would allow his cook to teach her chef from France how to cook it so to take the recipe back with them. The sultan was happy with that. The next day the Empress's chef having with him his recipe book and his scales (for a detailed description of the recipe to be written down) went to the kitchens but the Palace chef threw him out and, the legend has it, he said to the Frenchman "An Imperial chef cooks using his feelings, his eyes, his nose!!"... After that the Empress didn't insist and she returned to France without the recipe of her favourite dish. The same story is also mentioned in a historic book of 1998 regarding the History of the Ottoman Empire. Regardless of the story behind this recipe the fact remains that it is a super delicious dish and nothing else really matters!!! This version today is slightly different from the traditional one but don't miss the chance to try it out. If you don't like lamb feel free to substitute with beef

Ingredients (for 6-8 people)

For the lamb:
1Kg of lamb leg (boneless and excess fat discarded)
2 onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp of garlic, minced
2 green bell peppers, finely diced (optional)
4 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
3 tbsp of tomato paste
3-4 tbsp of butter
1 cup of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 cups hot water
salt
pepper

For the aubergines purée:
1 1/2Kg of aubergines
70gr.-80gr. plain flour
115gr. of butter
100gr. of hard mature cheese (like Greek Kefalotyri or parmesan)
480ml-720ml full fat milk, warm
1-1 1/2 lemon, the juice
pinch of nutmeg (optional -my addition)
salt
pepper

Method:
Wash the meat and cut into medium size cubes. Pat dry with kitchen paper.

Heat the butter in a pot in medium to high heat and add the onions, sauté for a couple of minutes - stirring with a wooden spoon. Add the meat cubes and garlic and keep stirring to sauté until the meat gets evenly coloured on all sides. Then add the green pepper and sauté for another couple of minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Add the tomato paste and stir for a couple of minutes, then add the fresh tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. At this point add the water and when the food comes to the boil, turn the heat to low, cover with the lid and let it simmer slowly for 1 hour or so. Keep an eye in case the food needs a bit more water.

After 1 hour, uncover the pot and let the food simmer for another 30-60 minutes, stirring from time to time and making sure it doesn't stick on the bottom of the pan. Cook until the lamb is very tender (usually it doesn't take too long) and the tomato sauce is quite thick. **** The lamb can be prepared in advance, refrigerated and reheated the day you need it just before serving.

In the meantime prepare the aubergines purée. Wash and prick the aubergines with a fork in a few places. Place them whole and unpeeled on a baking dish and put them under very hot grill in the oven until they are very soft and slightly charred on all sides and turning them around frequently.

Take the aubergines out of the oven and let them cool down for a bit to be able to handle with bare hands. Peel them and discard the stems. Cut them into large chunks, and leave in a colander for about 10-15 minutes to drain off the juices. Use your hands to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

Transfer to a board and chop them finely. Put in a large bowl and mash with the back of a fork and then mix well with the lemon juice.

In a saucepan heat the butter in low heat, add the flour and stir constantly for a couple of minutes with a wooden spoon until all the butter is absorbed- be careful because the mixture should not get browned.

Get the warm milk and, while not stopping stirring, start adding it slowly into the flour mixture. Keep stirring until the béchamel sauce is thick and smooth, simmering for about 4-5 minutes in very low heat.

Add in the saucepan the puréed aubergines and stir well to combine with the béchamel. Add the nutmeg and the cheese and stir again. Taste the purée and accordingly add salt and pepper and let it simmer, while stirring, for another couple of minutes and take off the heat.

To serve, put a few spoonfuls of the aubergine purée on each plate and on top arrange some of the lamb stew. Sprinkle with some chopped parsley and serve while it is still hot.