| Eggs with Stems | |
by
Judy Sobeloff, from the June 2005 newsletter
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the queen. “When
I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve
believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
—Lewis Carroll,
Alice in Wonderland
O.K., raise your hands if you believe what you read. I do, I do! Not political stuff, of course, but reading about eggplant, I was swept off my feet, my usually sharp critical faculties deactivated. Who could remain skeptical in the face of the following claims? Note: none of the statements below have been checked for veracity or verisimilitude. You may put your hands down now, please.
Bland as dirt, eggplant has traveled the world in a swirling air of mystery, managing somehow to blend in and dazzle simultaneously. The tofu of vegetables, eggplant is all things to all people, soaking up the flavors of everything around it. Having transformed itself from pariah to prima donna, eggplant is now a must-have staple in the cuisines of many cultures, particularly South European and East Asian, due no doubt to a top-secret vegetable witness relocation plan.
For starters, the eggplant is a fruit, not a vegetable, specifically a berry (note its little spiny cap).
Two-thirds of the world’s eggplant grows in New Jersey (even I don’t believe that one, but I read it on the Internet), though both India and Asia are given credit for the world’s first eggplants. Treated with suspicion when it reached Europe in the 11th century, eggplant was thought to cause a variety of ailments including epilepsy, fever, and insanity, resulting in its being called “mala insana,” meaning “bad egg, mad apple, or apple of madness.” (www.vegparadise.com).
There may be some logic behind this, as eggplant is a member of the nightshade family and contains a toxin called solanine, destroyed in cooking. Some people, such as my friend Pat, who required a blood transfusion after eating eggplant, and his brother Michael, who gets hives on the inside of his mouth but reportedly doesn’t let that stop him, don’t do well with eggplant. For some reason, their father doesn’t care for eggplant, but if you’re not a relative, you should probably be fine.
Originally brought to the U.S. by Thomas Jefferson in the 1700s, fears about eggplant persisted (long before Pat and Michael were even born!), and eggplants were first used for decorative purposes only, not eaten widely here until the late 1800s or early 1900s.
Nonetheless, the eggplant does have some healing properties and can be used to treat both scorpion bite and frostbite. Chinese women in the fifth century purportedly made a black dye from the skins “to stain their teeth to a black lustre, a fashionable cosmetic use” (www.produceoasis.com).
A master of disguise, eggplant comes in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes in addition to the standard dark purple Western or Globe eggplant, including the grape-sized Pea eggplant, the ping pong ball-shaped Thai eggplant, the tomato-like African Scarlet eggplants, and the purple and white-striped Italian eggplant (www.vegparadise.com).
The name eggplant comes from a small white variety called “White Egg” which, Co-op Deli Manager Amy tells me, “really look like eggs, except they have stems.”
Concerned about eggplant’s potential bitterness, some cooks salt large eggplants before cooking, but I’d rather just use a smaller eggplant.
The main trick apparently is to choose a good eggplant in the first place, one that’s not sagging, wilted, or bruised, because overripe eggplants taste bitter. “Squeeze the eggplant gently with a finger, then let go,” advises Clifford Wright in Mediterranean Vegetables. “If it is fresh, the eggplant will reform smoothly again.”
I made two dishes: “Basic Roasted Eggplant with Feta Cheese,” which my friend Debbie called “stupendous,” and an old favorite, ratatouille in a crockpot. My friend John described the feta dish as “a feast for all my senses,” adding that it “electrified” his tastebuds. Little did I know until now that one reason the ratatouille recipe is so delicious, apart from the eggplant’s long cooking time, is that eggplant absorbs oil faster than any other vegetable. Both my 15 month old and 3-1/2 year old gobble this one down, depending on the day, of course.
Basic Roasted Eggplant with Feta Cheese (adapted from hungrymonster.com)
3 eggplants
1-1/2 cups olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup red onion
8-10 minced garlic cloves
2 Tablespoons fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound feta cheese
1/2 cup pitted olives, preferably kalamata or alonso
2 bunches fresh spinach
fresh oregano sprigs for garnish (optional)
Preheat oven to 400F. Place eggplant cubes in a shallow baking pan. Toss with enough of the olive oil to coat and set the remainder aside. Salt to taste and bake until cubes are soft but not mushy, about 25 to 30 minutes.
Whisk together the remaining olive oil, lemon juice, onion, minced garlic, and oregano in a small bowl, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix about half the dressing with the eggplant. Arrange on a bed of spinach on a large platter. Sprinkle with cheese, olives, and the remaining dressing and garnish with optional fresh oregano sprigs.
Ratatouille (adapted from The Vegetarian Slow Cooker)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 small zucchini, sliced
1 medium green bell pepper, sliced
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into strips
4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into large dice
OR 1-28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp. Salt
1 tsp. cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried basil, optional
In a skillet on medium-high heat, heat 3 Tbsp. of the oil and sauté onions, zucchini, bell pepper, and garlic until onions are translucent.
Transfer to the slow cooker. Add remaining oil to skillet and cook eggplant till slightly soft (or until deadly toxins are destroyed), then add to slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on high heat for 3 to 4 hours. Taste and adjust seasonings, removing bay leaf before serving.
After reading that eggplant is a berry, Judy Sobeloff was pricked by a tiny thorn in its spiny cap and immediately fell into a deep sleep.
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