Manolla's Venezuelan Pickled Eggplant Salad

I remember Manolla was a beautiful, sweet Venezuelan lady. She was married to my aunt's landlord and I met her a very few times when I was a little girl. I don't remember her cooking much but my parents say she was a great cook. All I remember is how beautiful she was, that she wasn't very tall and that she had tiny feet and I could almost fit into her sandals :). My mother got this recipe from her and we always referred to it as Manolla's salad. During the years, this salad was adopted by my family and friends in spite it's not so appealing looks ;) We make it in late autumn and it's ready to eat just around the New Year.

Manolla's Venezuelan Pickled Eggplant Salad

5 kg eggplant
15 g black pepper (not ground)
salt
vinegar
1 head garlic, peeled and sliced
oil

Peel eggplant, julienne it into 5 mm thick strips (I use V-Slicer to create slices of absolutely equal thickness). Transfer it into large strainer layer by layer. Salt each layer a lot. Leave it like that for two hours. This is necessary because salt removes the bitterness from the eggplant. After that time, squeeze out the bitter water from the eggplant slightly.

Fill pot with the mixture of vinegar and water (you will have to work by your taste here, it should be as sour as you can tolerate). Blanch eggplant in this mixture until it becomes pale, and take it out back in a strainer. During the process, if the mixture looses sourness, make a new one.

Crush pepper through the paper towel. Add it to the eggplant as well as garlic and mix everything well in a large bowl. Let cool completely. Fill clean jars with it and pour enough oil inside that the whole eggplant is soaked. Close the jars. Store in a dark dry cold place. This should be eaten after 3-4 weeks. Once the jar is opened, it should be stored in the refrigerator.

Note: I am sending this for the Weekend Herb Blogging event, hosted this week by Dee from The Daily Tiffin.