Eggplant is an usual ingredient. Bitter and alkaloid when raw, it becomes a flavor sponge when prepared correctly, and many cultures have taken advantage of this to take this canvas for their own spin. The culture that hasn’t done that much with it? Mine – America barely eats any. Growing up in Kansas, that was my experience at least. My mother never cooked it, and I only used it once before in middle school to make moussaka, a Greek recipe. I don’t remember why I was making it – it had to be a report of some sort – but I do remember that I thought it was terrible. That singular experience would be coloring my perception of the two recipes in this chapter, for better or worse. My goal – make food that didn’t taste as terrible as that dimly recalled memory.
The first attempt at that was the Middle East’s solution to what to do with the eggplant – baba ghannouj. It’s not something I’ve had often, as I usually prefer hummus, but I bought a few different packaged varieties so I could compare to the freshly made kind. The recipe involved roasting two eggplants in a 375 degree oven until soft, then wrapping in plastic wrap for an hour to steam. After that, the tops were snipped off and the flesh squeezed into a strainer to drain for half an hour. The pulp was pureed with garlic, lemon juice, tahini, and salt in a food processor, and parsley and black pepper were added just at the end. It was served with pita chips.
My experiences here were mixed. First off, I had to roast in an oven, even though the recipe suggests that a charcoal grill would be better. Also, I think they needed to roast longer, as the flesh was still clinging to the skin when I tried to squeeze it out at the end. As for the actual end product, it was very garlicky – one person complained that it was more a garlic dip than eggplant. I noticed that there were several single scoops of ghannouj in the bowl, but a lot of it was left. I didn’t mind it, and finished it off a day later, but I could tell it wasn’t the best recipe out there. Maybe a charcoal fire would impart more flavor. Something to try.
The other recipe was a play on eggplant Parmesan, which is quite a chore. In this one, though, the eggplant took the place of the pasta. Here we use the traditional method of purging the liquid from eggplant – the thin slices got a liberal coating of salt and allowed to drain for half an hour, flipping and resalting once. After that time, the eggplant was rinsed and squeezed dry, then sliced into something resembling linguine noodles. At that point, it was time to make the pasta – garlic and red pepper flakes were cooked in a hot pan for a few seconds, just to flavor the oil. The “noodles” were then added and tossed o coat. Some tomato concasse was added and cooked for about fifteen seconds, followed by some cream and tossed for another ten. The whole thing was finished with a chiffonade of basil and some Parmesan, and topped with breadcrumbs. I served the whole thing along with garlic bread and Caesar salad.
I really liked this recipe – the eggplant worked really well as pasta. I had to get creative with the draining rig, as the eggplant made more strips than I could easily place on my cooling rack. I ended up having to place a few slices in a collander and the rest over a baking dish suspended by bamboo skewers. I also ended up having the pan too hot at first, and the garlic burned really quickly. I had to toss the whole batch and wash it thoroughly to get rid of the nasty taste of burnt garlic. Despite these minor setbacks, the dish turned out really well. It’s something I’d definitely make again.
So, how do I feel about eggplant now? Well, I think it’s something that won’t be a new staple in my pantry, but I’m definitely less intimidated by it. Maybe I need to revisit that moussaka recipe again sometime…
Next: Culinary pin-up art.
Recipes:
February 27, 2016
misroi
goodeatseaten 