The following is a creative culinary example of postcolonial hybridity.

That’s right. I said it.

Umm so really this is just a recipe that takes something Libyan, Zaalouk Badinjan (“Eggplant Caviar,” or a spread a bit like Baba Ghanouch) and combines it with an Italian presentation. On Moroccan flatbread.

I started with a recipe from Fiona Dunlop’s North African Kitchen – a spread made with eggplant and bread crumbs – and changed up the ingredients a bit, adding the last of my summer squash and fresh rosemary and sage. I layered it on pieces of crispy flatbread and topped it with chopped tomatoes for a bruschetta-style snack with a North African kick…

Bruschetta from the Shores of Tripoli

1 eggplant, cubed
1 summer squash or zucchini, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 slices of bread or an English muffin, broken into crumbs
3 T lemon juice
6 T olive oil
3 T chopped rosemary and sage
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tomatoes, diced
Good pita or flatbread, toasted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the eggplant and squash on a baking sheet; salt lightly, drizzle with olive oil, and spread the minced garlic on top of the veggies. Bake until soft, about 20 minutes.

Blend the vegetables along with the herbs, olive oil, bread crumbs, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Cut the flatbread into squares or wedges; spread a layer of the eggplant dip and add tomatoes on top.