How to choose and cook eggplant?

An Indian treasure

Nicknamed “poor man’s caviar” in the Middle East, eggplant is an emblematic product of Mediterranean cuisine. Moussaka, zaalouk, parmigiana… Famous specialties from Greece, Morocco or Italy. Many countries like Japan, China or the United States also have their own variety. However, it is an India that we find traces of for the first time more than 800 years before Jesus Christ.

Today, we find eggplants of all shapes and colors on the stalls. Enough to put some sunshine on our plate.

How to choose eggplant

Plump, deep purple with a green stalk, without bruises or soft areas, the eggplant should have smooth skin and a firm feel. If the casting is successful, we go to the kitchen!

How to cook eggplant

Eggplant is only eaten cooked. Try tasting it raw, it will have a spongy texture and a bitter, rather unpleasant taste. To include it in a salad, cook it beforehand and add it once cooled.

The eggplant skin does not need to be peeled. Most of the antioxidants are present there, it would be a shame to remove it. So we just wash it well before cooking it.

Finally, if it is low in calories, the eggplant will tend to soak up oil when cooking. To avoid this, we cut it into pieces, let it soak with coarse salt for 30 minutes, before rinsing and blotting to remove the excess salt. Small bonus: this will remove the bitterness which often develops after a few days of storage.

Eggplant goes to the table

With its soft and tender texture, eggplant is one of the summer vegetables that we love to cook.

Essential in a homemade ratatouille, it is also available on the barbecue, roasted in the oven, stuffed… A nice slice can easily replace the meat in a burger. You can even kill two birds with one stone by accompanying it with eggplant fries! We love Milanese eggplant just as much, with crispy breading and tender flesh, which will make you forget the traditional veal escalope.

As an aperitif, we serve an eggplant caviar which will overshadow the tapenade and the superstar hummus. And for a family meal, we prepare it as a gratin, or moussaka or lasagna.

You can also fry the eggplants in advance and give them a nice color (the famous Maillard reaction) to add even more flavor. If you prefer a lighter version, they also support steam cooking.

In short, eggplant is impossible to get tired of!