Thirty minutes of draining is the difference between a thick meze and water on the plate: Greek melitzanosalata and the step everyone skips

One single ingredient separates melitzanosalata from mutabal - tahini. That is the whole difference, and it decides whether you taste the aubergine or you taste the sesame. In the real Greek version, the roasted aubergine dominates and has nothing to hide behind.

The name is literal: melitzana is aubergine, salata is salad. It is served as meze - a small dish that goes to the middle of the table and that everyone scrapes at with bread. The Balkans know this logic by heart; only the names change from border to border.

What everyone skips: the draining

Aubergine holds a lot of water. If that water stays inside, instead of a thick rustic salad you get something watery that spreads across the plate. So after roasting, the flesh goes into a colander over a bowl and is left to drain for 20 to 30 minutes. That step is what makes the salad concentrated and full of flavour - and it is exactly the step everyone skips because "there is no time".

Ingredients for 4 to 6 people

Three large aubergines, one large clove of garlic, half a small red onion finely chopped, four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (around 60 ml) plus a little more at the end, one and a half tablespoons of red wine vinegar (around 20 to 25 ml), one tablespoon of fresh lemon juice (optional), two tablespoons of finely chopped fresh parsley, half a teaspoon of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

For the top: pitted Kalamata olives sliced into rings, roasted red pepper in small dice, parsley and a little olive oil.

The roasting

Heat the oven to 220 degrees, top and bottom. Wash the aubergines, dry them well and pierce them several times with the tip of a knife so the steam can escape. Place them whole and unpeeled on a baking tray lined with parchment - no oil. Roast for 35 to 50 minutes depending on size, turning them halfway. They are done when the skin is wrinkled and darkened and the flesh is completely soft to the touch.

For a stronger roasted flavour, closer to what comes off a grill, switch on the top grill for the last 5 to 10 minutes and move the tray higher. This is not the moment to walk away - the skin should darken heavily, but the flesh must not burn.

Putting it together

Once out, leave the aubergines for ten minutes or so until you can handle them. Split them lengthways, scoop out the flesh with a spoon and remove the skin entirely. After draining, chop the flesh with a knife on a board until you have a creamy but still rustic texture. No blender - real melitzanosalata keeps the fibres and small pieces of aubergine.

Mince the garlic very finely, the onion too. If the onion is too sharp, soak it in cold water for a few minutes and drain it well. Everything goes into a wide bowl with the parsley, olive oil and vinegar, mix gently, taste and adjust with salt and acidity. For something fresher, add a spoonful of lemon juice.

The waiting

Cover the salad and put it in the fridge for at least thirty minutes. If there is time, one to two hours is better - the flavours need to come together. Before serving, take it out for a few minutes to come to room temperature and taste it once more.

Spread it unevenly on a plate, drizzle with a little olive oil and scatter parsley over it. It goes with rustic bread, toast or flatbread. This is a dish that costs the price of three aubergines - and on the table it looks like somebody spent the whole day on it.