Eggplant Parmesan (Melanzane alla Parmigiana)

Melanzane alla Parmigiana is a rich dish from Northern Italy, composed of alternating layers of fried eggplant, tomato sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella.  

Roasted eggplant dip (Kyopoolu)

One of the main characteristics of the cuisine of the Balkans is the wide variety of salads. Countries in the region have hot and sunny climate and vegetables grow full of taste. But this is only one of the reasons for the huge consumption of salads here. The heart of the matter is that we start lunch and dinner with hard alcoholic drinks. Rakia in Bulgaria, raki in Turkey, ouzo and tsipouro in Greece are national drinks served at the beginning of the meal. These strong drinks go well with salad. Kyopoolu - a roasted eggplant dip, is one of the most popular Bulgarian summer salads, although it has a Turkish origin. The typical smoky taste of its roasted skin, the soft inside which absorbs a lot of olive oil and salt, the freshness of grated tomatoes and roasted peppers, the garlic as an ingredient make this dip irresistable.

Home-made sour cherries liqueur

Sour cherry liqueur. Elegant liqueur for elegant occasions. You serve it in little glasses and sip it sparingly enjoying every drop. My Granny prepared it when I was a child and I still remember the big green bottles filled with sour cherries and sugar. As it is with many other good things, preparing sour cherry liqueur is a slow process. You need more than a month  between buying the fresh sour cherries and taking the first sweet sips from this drink. 

Vodka is the perfect base for it, because it hasn't own flavour and color.