Eggplant

Eggplant is also known as aubergine. It is available in various colors including purple, red and yellow and in many different shapes and sizes. The flesh of the plant is easily digestible and has a slightly bitter and tangy taste. It is not suitable to eat raw because eggplant contains solanine and is in fact poisonous if not cooked. When you buy eggplant you can test its ripeness by pressing it slightly with the fingertips. If it gives then it is ready. Unripe eggplant has even more solanine than the fully ripened plant so be careful! You can let the eggplant stand for a few days at home and it will continue to ripen. Most of the flavor in the eggplant is in the skin so don’t peel it! You can cut it into cubes or slices, but remove the end of the stalk first. When pan-frying the fruit wash the slices first and dry them with paper towel to stop them absorbing too much fat. It is also better to dab them dry after frying to take off any excess fat or it will overpower the taste of the eggplant itself. Allowing it to soak in a bowl of water with a twist of lemon for 15 minutes before cooking will lighten the taste too because the lemon water will extract most of the bitterness. 

Eggplants can be kept in a cool, dark place between 50-60°F for up to a week. The refrigerator might be a little too cold.   

TIP

The seeds of the eggplant look a lot like fish eggs. Eggplant caviar is easy to make and tastes great with fish and shellfish dishes. Halve the plant and drizzle the insides with olive oil. Bake the halves with the cut side down and some seasoning of your choice for 25 minutes at 350°F. Make some caramel in a pot and add some chopped garlic. Douse the mixture with balsamic vinegar and some water to dissolve the caramel. Scrape the flesh out of the plant and chop it up finely, add it to the liquid and season again with some coriander, salt and pepper. 

You can make a fabulous soup using baked eggplant. Bake it like in the example above but in this case add a few cloves of garlic. Scrape the flesh out of the eggplant again and squeeze the garlic out of its skin to reduce the bitterness and spiciness. Sweat some shallots and add the eggplant. Now add some chicken or vegetable stock and reduce it. When you are done, puree the soup and serve it with some scallops.

Barbecued eggplant is a great addition to any yard party menu- cut it diagonally to make the slices larger and squeeze it hard to tenderize it and reduce the bitterness.