Season's Eatings: Eggplant

I have a confession to make—for a long time, I despised eggplant. Associating eggplant with eggplant parmesan—too often oily, breaded discs drenched in cheese and drowned in unappealing marinara sauce—I shunned the stuff for years. Only as an adult, when I began to read recipes obsessively and discovered that, yes, there are other uses for eggplant beyond eggplant parm, did I tentatively purchase an eggplant from my local farmers’ market. And I never looked back. 

If, like me, your only association to eggplant is an unpleasant one, you owe it to yourself to give this underappreciated vegetable a second chance. With the ever-expanding number of varieties available in markets and even grocery stores, eggplant is currently more available—and more ripe for experiment and discovery—than ever before. 

Even if you’re not (yet) an eggplant fan, it’s hard to deny the visual appeal of a series of bins stocked with these assorted varieties of eggplant. Ranging in color from deep royal purple to violet to pale green and even white, exhibiting solid jewel-like colors or variegated ones, eggplants can vary in size from large globes to long, thin, zucchini-like shapes to small bulbs that can fit in a child’s palm. 

Although we are used to identifying eggplants with regional designations—Italian, Japanese—all eggplants actually have their origins in India. Known in India as brinjal, eggplant was first mentioned in print in a Chinese source from the 5th century. Eggplant’s popularity spread from India and Southeast Asia through the Middle East to Spain and Italy. Its appreciation in Europe as a culinary (rather than merely decorative) plant took until the 16th century, when Spanish and Portuguese explorers brought it to America. Eggplants are cultivated today in temperate climates throughout the world, and is known by a variety of names, from the French aubergine throughout Europe to eggfruit in Australia, garden or field egg in Africa, and melitzana in Greece. 

Today, eggplant varieties are generally identified by region or country, although most eggplants can be satisfactorily substituted into recipes calling for other varieties. Japanese and Chinese eggplants are long and thin, with fewer seeds—the Japanese varieties have a darker purple skin. Thai and Vietnamese eggplants are often smaller and seedier than their Western counterparts, and some small white varieties of Thai eggplant actually do look like eggs. 

Eggplants have found their way into the centerpieces of many traditional regional dishes worldwide. From the Sicilian caponata (eggplant relish) and Provencal ratatouille to Greek moussaka, Middle Eastern baba ghanoush, and, yes, Italian melanzane parmigiana, eggplants hold pride of place in many a national and regional cuisine. Cooking with eggplant is the perfect opportunity to explore unfamiliar global cuisines. 

Since I (re)discovered eggplant, I find that my favorite ways to prepare it are simple and spontaneous. A small Japanese or Chinese eggplant adds a dash of surprising color to a vegetable stirfry. Roasted strips of eggplant make a smoky, satisfying last-minute addition to homemade or jarred pasta sauces. Indeed, like mushrooms, eggplant serves as a most fulfilling meat substitute in a variety of dishes, from sauces and stews to relishes and pasta dishes. I may not have learned to love eggplant parmesan, but I have learned that eggplant has a wide range of uses beyond this Italian restaurant favorite. The next time you are drawn to a bin of beautiful purple eggplants at the market, let your eye rule your head—your stomach won’t be disappointed. 

Selection: Choose eggplants that are firm and heavy for their size. The skin should be bright, shiny, and unblemished.  

Availability: Eggplants are available year-round in supermarkets, but their peak season at the market is from late summer to mid-autumn.  

Storage: For best results, eggplants should be used when very fresh. Place in the refrigerator crisper for up to a week, but preferably no more than four days. 

Preparation: For a long time, people assumed that you had to salt eggplants heavily prior to cooking them, in order to draw out any bitter juices. Modern eggplant varieties are sweeter, though, and when used as fresh as possible, should not require heavy salting. Use caution when frying eggplants—they soak up an amazing amount of oil and the result can be greasy and unappetizing. Stewing eggplants in a rich sauce is a good alternative--their porous flesh soaks up whatever sauce or other liquid they’re cooked with and infuses them with flavor. Grilling or roasting are also excellent, low-fat cooking options. For a dash of unexpected purple color in your dishes, leave the skin on Asian eggplants and smaller standard varieties—larger globular purple eggplants may require peeling.

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Norah Piehl, Food Correspondent:Norah’s column, “Season’s Eatings,” published twice monthly to Gather Essentials: Food, considers  the importance of eating seasonally and locally. “Season’s Eatings” helps the growing number of farmers’ market shoppers make good choices at the market, highlighting in-season produce and often including a recipe or two. Norah’s column alsos profile local growers and markets, discusses other items (from cheese to chutney) that might be found at your local market, and generally offer sresources for those who wish to continue exploring their local and regional agricultural offerings.

Norah is a professional writer, editor, and book reviewer. In her spare time, Norah enjoys knitting (and blogging about knitting) and playing handbells with Boston’s Back Bay Ringers.

You can find all of Norah’s columns at www.gather.com/seasons eatingsKeep up with Norah’s other postings and Gather activity by joining her Gather network -- just click here: http://quincy74.gather.com and select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page. You’ll find Norah and other Food Correspondents, plus celebrity chef content and plenty of other Foodies, at Food.gather.com