Eggplant is Delicious!

If you’re inclined to be skeptical about the title of this post, be assured that I understand. Aubergines (aka eggplant) can be hard to love, and it took me years to get to the the enthusiasm expressed here. Too often, we encounter them as oddly spongy, chewy things, either devoid of taste or unpleasantly bitter. But if treated right, eggplant really are delicious – tender, creamy, and oh so versatile in their uses. Maybe you knew this already, but the key is how you handle them before cooking.

Or at least that is what finally converted me to the purple side. I started with a technique from Mark Bittman‘s How to Cook Everything, dry-pan roasting two medium eggplant until their skin was charred and blistered and their meat was soft and smoky, and then turned them into delectable fritters. That was good, if a bit time consuming. I recommend you try it.