Eggplant: The New Revolution

Eggplant. Aubergine. A vegetable so known for overcooking, tasting too salty, being too mushy or used as a filler. Eggplant is emerging center stage in the broader cooking community due to its lightly bitter flavor and a unique texture which is further enhanced with a touch of smoke, Tahini, yogurt, coarse salt and olive oil. These flavors provide an excellent pairing and you see how the challenging mild bitterness can be celebrated by matching it with balancing flavors.

Eggplants are part of the Far Eastern, Indian and Mediterranean \ Middle-Eastern cuisines, yet the Balkan and Arab kitchens are the ones celebrating its flavor the most. They emphasize it best by grilling it on the spot, preferably over a charcoal grill, and adding minimal spicing to create a piece of the Middle East on the plate, with flavors that will appeal to every palate.

There is an abundance of eggplant varieties, from the lavender and white-striped Listada de Gandia, or the heart-shaped Rosa Bianco, the white-skinned Long White Sword, the Pink Bride, and the stimulating Black Beauty. Most supermarkets carry only the big, purple pear shaped variety, but ethnic and farmer markets often offer colorful varieties that are simply ostentatious. Beneath their alluring exteriors, however, most eggplants taste pretty much the same. Size and shape are probably more important considerations than color in selecting a specimen appropriate to your eggplant intentions.

Found in markets year long, eggplants are at their very best from late July through October, when they are in season. Pick an eggplant that is firm, smooth and shiny; the color, whether purple, white or green should be vivid. It should have no discoloration, scars or bruises which indicate the flesh underneath is probably damaged. The stem and cap of the eggplant should be bright green in color, and the eggplant should be light to its size: the heavier it is the more seeds are inside and the heavier the texture it will have. To test for ripeness gently press the skin of the eggplant: it should spring back if the eggplant is ripe.

Processing eggplants is quite simple: unlike past notions that called for cutting, salting, drying, washing and simply over-processing, current notions call for picking the right eggplant, preferably “baladi” which is elongated and a bit smaller, and then prepping it with minimal processing: roasting, grilling, baking, broiling, sautéing, frying, stuffing, stewing or steaming. Forget the oil saturated eggplants you know from the past: mix an egg white with cold water, brush the eggplant, sprinkle a little salt just before frying, and fry in semi-deep olive oil over medium heat. Your frying pan will hardly lose a drop of oil. And treat your eggplant like a piece of steak: from the minute you finished cooking it the quality just goes downhill: prep and serve.

Eggplants are perishable, and sensitive to both heat and cold. Ideally should be kept at 50° Fahrenheit (10° Celsius). Eggplants should not be cut prior to storing as it quickly expires once its sin is punctured or its flesh exposed. Store uncut, unwashed, unwrapped eggplants in a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator’s crisper for a few days. Do not force it in! If it is too big for the crisper, simply place it on a shelf in the refrigerator: forcing it in will damage the skin and spoil the eggplant faster.

Considered a healthy vegetable, eggplants are low in Saturated Fat, Sodium, and Cholesterol and high in Dietary Fiber, Folate, Potassium, Manganese, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper. Its health benefits include protecting brain cell membranes from damage, antimutagenic (anti-cancer), antimicrobial, anti-LDL (bad cholesterol) and antiviral activities, making it a perfect vegetable for maintaining optimum health and for weight loss.

To read more about the health benefits of eggplants please refer to The World’s Heathiest Foods website.

Middle Easterners claim there are more than a thousand ways to fix an eggplant. I will not venture that far, but here are some quick serving ideas with eggplants we use here at Palette Dome Cuisine:

• For homemade babaganoush, mix roasted eggplant, garlic, tahini, lemon juice and chopped mint, parsley or basil. Use it as a dip for vegetables or as a sandwich filling
• Mix cubed baked eggplant with grilled peppers, lentils, onions and garlic and top with balsamic vinaigrette for a quick side dish
• Fix a classic French ratatouille or an Italian caponata, sautéing eggplant, garlic, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and zucchini
• Serve roasted miniature eggplants with a mixture of feta cheese, pine nuts and roasted peppers, with a drizzle of olive oil
• Add eggplant to your next Indian or Thai curry stir-fry
• Try eggplant parmesan instead or on top of chicken parmesan: you will be pleasantly surprised
• Prepare Greek moussaka or Italian lasagna replacing the meet with eggplant or eggplant and mushroom mix