FlyerTalk Forums - What is the point of Aubergine?

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- - What is the point of Aubergine? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/diningbuzz/1225656-what-point-aubergine.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILuvParis (Post 16740557)

I'm surprised (unless I missed it) no one mentioned ratatouille.

Although I mentioned up-thread, that I do not like eggplant, I do like it in ratatouille.

Quote:

I.
Consider please this dish of ratatouille.
Neither will it invade Afghanistan
Or boycott the Olympic Games in a huff.
It likes the paintings of Raoul Dufy.
It feeds the playboy and the working-man.
It has no enemies, no, no even
/Salade Niçoise/ or phoney recipes,
Not Leonard Brezhnev, no, not Ronald Reagan.
It is the fruits of the earth, this ratatouille,
And it has many friends, including me.
Come, lovers of ratatouille, and unite.

II.
It is a sort of dream, which coincides
With the pacific relaxations called
Preferred Reality. Men who forget
Lovingly chopped-up cloves of /ail/, who scorn
The job of slicing two good peppers thinly,
Then two large onions and six aubergines -
Those long, impassioned and imperial purples -
Which, with six courgettes, you sift with salt
And cover with a plate for one round hour;
Or men who do care to know about
The eight ripe /pommes d'amour/ their wives have need of,
Preparing ratatouille, who give no thought to
The cup of olive oil that's heated in
Their heaviest pan, or onions, fried with garlic
For five observant minutes, before they add
Aubergines, courgettes, peppers, tomatoes;
Or men who give no thought to what their wives
Are thinking as they stand besides their stoves
When seasoning is sprinkled on, before
A /bouquet garni/ is dropped in - these men
Invade Afghanistan, boycott the Games,
Call off their fixtures and prepare for war.

III.
Cook for one hour, and then serve hot or cold
Eat it, for preference, under the sun,
But, if you are Northern, you may eat
Your ratatouille imagining Provence.
Believe me, it goes well with everything,
As love does, as peace does, as summers do
Or any other season, as a lifetime does.
Acquire, then, for yourselves, ingredients;
Prepare this stew of love, and ask for more.
Quick, before it is too late. /Bon appétit!/

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILuvParis (Post 16740557)

I'm surprised (unless I missed it) no one mentioned Ratatouille.

Good movie.

But this thread is about aubergine/eggplant.

:p

In this area right now eggplants are about $1 or $1.29 a lb in the places that sell them by the pound.

Yesterday in one of the stores we go to they had a bunch of ones in the day old veggie rack for fifty cents each.

Be making eggplant something tomorrow.

eggplant baked in the oven with a miso topping is great

aubergine as a color is very nice too!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by luxury (Post 16746527)

aubergine as a color is very nice too!!

I feel a Swiss Tony moment coming on ...... "you know aubergine is a bit like a beautiful woman ...... gorgeous on the outside, but when unwrapped often dissapoints ................":D

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILuvParis (Post 16740557)

I'm surprised (unless I missed it) no one mentioned ratatouille.

Apparently, the original version (before nouveau cuisine manifested itself) requires it and peppers and onions to be cooked to a mush and put through a food mill. A very tasty spread on good bread.

I just made a baba ganoush with 6 eggplants that I roasted then charred the skins.

We also get the tiny Indian eggplants (come in regular and light green colours) which I like to put whole in curries.

Quote:

Originally Posted by YVR Cockroach (Post 16754060)

Heh, I had some old ratatouille in the freezer that I decided to thaw out... wasn't really appetizing-looking enough to eat a side, so I stuck it in the power blender and out came a nice dip. Not quite as creamy and smooth as babaganoush, but tasty nonetheless... ^

I don't mind eggplant, but i really am not keen on it in ratatoiulle, so I make a version without (more of a courgette appreciation dish really!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by emma69 (Post 16815185)

I don't mind eggplant, but i really am not keen on it in ratatoiulle, so I make a version without (more of a courgette appreciation dish really!)

While I don't mind eggplant, I often saute onions, green peppers, sliced zucchini (and sometimes yellow squash), and tomatoes and spice it up with fresh ground black pepper and a little hot sauce to finish.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILuvParis (Post 16826588)

Ok, where's the FT cookbook? :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILuvParis (Post 16826588)

I'll have to give the hot sauce a go - I like basil and oregano in my courgette appreciation version (which sounds largely the same, except I prefer red peppers to green).

Quote:

Originally Posted by emma69 (Post 16852475)

I'll have to give the hot sauce a go - I like basil and oregano in my courgette appreciation version (which sounds largely the same, except I prefer red peppers to green).

Well, any color of pepper will do. I added a can of tomato sauce and basically had a spicy soup and no fat other than what is naturally in the vegetables and the tablespoon or so of olive oil I used when I sauteed the onions.