Eggplant Madness — La folie des aubergines
If I could have bought more, I would have. This is how fascinated I am now by the many varieties of aubergine/eggplant on the market (Aubergine for us the French and the English, Eggplant for the rest of the English speaking community). White, pink, dark or light purple; striped like a zebra or plain; Thai, Indian, Italian, Sicilian or Chinese; round, teardrop-shaped or oval-elongated. Aren’t they beautiful? Not forgetting to mention the lovely curvy shapes they can describe. When I was growing up, I only knew one sort. Things have surely changed.
I chose these ones because of their color and funky elegant shapes. Without thinking much, I dropped them in my basket because I knew that I would be dying to photograph them before even considering how I was going to cook them. Eggplants are not vegetables that keep for a long time. But as beautiful as they are, I now only wished that they kept their attractive, sexy color once cooked. Quel dommage, non ? ( a shame, don’t you think?)
So, what are your favorite ways to cook eggplants? And, do you belong to those who love them or those who hate them? Because truth being said, eggplant does trigger these kinds of debate, doesn’t it?
Me?
I prepared a vegetable mille-feuille and a chicken tajine, amongst other things. As much as I love them, I realized that I had not yet presented many recipes. So come back to see, if you like aubergines, that is!
Technorati Tags: Food Styling, La Tartine Gourmande, Food Photography, Eggplant, Aubergine, Sexy Vegetable
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I am proud to say that I have converted my boyfriend from an aubergine (or eggplant, he’s canadian) hater to lover! My very favourite would have to be baba ganoush, but I’m also a huge fan of just slicing them, brushing them with sundried tomato oil, a sprinkle of herbs and straight on the grill.
Comment by sarah — On August, 30th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Et dire que cela fait seulement quelques mois que j’aime l’aubergine! Je me suis cependant bien rattrapée depuis!
Une recette que j’ai adoré: des pâtes avec des dés d’aubergines et des tomates concassées.
Pour les différentes variétés d’aubergines, je t’envie car je n’en trouve pas chez moi!
Comment by Vinciane — On August, 30th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Très beau site!! Quelles jolies photos!! Merci à toi!
A bientôt
http://www.wikisine.com
Comment by Julie — On August, 30th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Elles sont belles ces différentes variétés d’aubergines !
Comment by Fabienne — On August, 30th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Ces aubergines sont splendides, et tes photos ne le sont pas moins !
Comment by La Mangue — On August, 30th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
You’ve picked up some gorgeous looking eggplants there! I went from a kid who hated eggplant to now cooking and making other people in the family appreciate it. My recent favorite has been making an eggplant marinara with lots of garlic and basil to top off my pasta.
Comment by Mango Power Girl — On August, 30th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Who knew there were so many beautiful varieties of eggplant.
Comment by peabody — On August, 30th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Beautiful photo! The smaller eggplants are much, much less bitter than the monstrosity so common in American grocery stores.
My favorite combination is eggplant and yogurt. My mom dices the eggplant, fries until deep brown, then makes a salad with yogurt, onions, tomatoes, and a chopped green chile. All the frying is usually too much work for me, so when I get a craving I make a dish that I first had in a Turkish restaurant (it was in Boston, but is now sadly closed).
Roast the eggplant in a hot oven until totally wrinkled and very, very soft. Combine with drained yogurt (or buy Greek-style yogurt already drained), salt, pepper, and a chopped shallot. A sprinkling of parsley and mint is also good.
Comment by Tisha — On August, 30th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
I love eggplant! My favorite way to cook them is to cube and roast of them in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil. When they’re finished I toss the cubes with grated parmesan.
Comment by Jodi — On August, 30th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
That’s a madness I’d be happy to catch. Beautiful, sensual specimins!
Comment by Lucy — On August, 30th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
I can’t wait to see what you do with them! I love them cooked slowly in a stew with lentils and pomegranates.
Comment by Robyn Vickers — On August, 30th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
In Japan they just came out with the white eggplant, it is called Silk. Love the shapes that you bought.
Comment by Kat — On August, 30th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
The eggplant in your photo is a Rosa Bianca — such a lovely name for an eggplant!
Comment by Lydia — On August, 30th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
I love eggplant. The rest of the family hate eggplant. I only buy them if I can find a nice tiny one. Most often they are the size of a small watermelon in my local. I like them sliced, brushed with oil and sautéed, lots of salt and pepper and eaten with my fingers…usually as soon as they come out of the pan.
Comment by barbara — On August, 30th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
wow i love your photos, bea! so gorgeous. mmmm eggplants. makes me smile. i was actually at the farmers market yesterday oogling the white eggplants and now i wish i had bought them. i’ve never tried to white ones before.
my favorite way to eat eggplants is simply brush with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, perhaps some other herbs and roast or saute. top with some fresh tomatoes and parmesan or ricotta…heaven
Comment by monica glass — On August, 30th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…my favorite vegetable !
Comment by ninisharp — On August, 30th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Quelles photos.
Comment by Tarzile — On August, 30th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
I love them simply drizzled with grassy olive oil and grilled. I love all the different shape you show. I always find that the common eggplant in the US has way more seeds than in France and tickels my gums a little bit more too.
Comment by Tartelette — On August, 30th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
A lovely palette of colors.
Comment by chef ledarney — On August, 30th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
I love eggplants! Nice pictures…
Comment by Rosa — On August, 31st, 2007 at 12:04 am
3 fois par jour j’en mangerai ! Ma belle-mere palestinienne m’en cuisine a chaque fois que ns allons les voir…. hummmm ! Je me rejouis de voir ce que tu vas ns proposer !!
Bonne journee a toi !
Comment by corinne — On August, 31st, 2007 at 2:27 am
Hum j’ai decouvert le babaganousch recemment,
mais ma grand mere marseillaise me faisait des aubergines dégorgées et revenues à la poele, a manger avec une sauce tomate, un délice auquel nous avions droit à chacune de nos visites chez elle. Que de souvenirs.
Comment by texmex — On August, 31st, 2007 at 3:09 am
I absolutely love eggplant. My favorite recipe is totally classic — ratatouille! I use an excellent recipe by Roger Vergé from “Les Légumes de Mon Moulin.” I love it cold too. Baba ganoush is great as well. Also a very simple recipe from the writers of the Silver Palate cookbook where you just cut them lengthwise and bake them in the oven with herbs and olive oil.
I guess I’ll have to buy some eggplant soon!
Comment by Betty C. — On August, 31st, 2007 at 3:11 am
Moi aussi je suis fan d’aubergines !
Comment by bergeou — On August, 31st, 2007 at 4:19 am
I love aubergines..I like them simply grilled or in a beautiful ratatouille but the best recipe to make with them is “Parmigiana di melanzane” (aubergine’s parmigiana).
Comment by Tuki — On August, 31st, 2007 at 5:55 am
What lovely eggplants! I LOVE eggplant! I cannot remember a time when I didn’t. We had them all the time growing up here, the most common variety being the long, thin, darkly purple Asian variety. I have them in lots of ways! In a casserole much like lasagna, as “tortang talong” which is a kind of eggplant omelet, in vegetable stews or stir-fries, stuffed, in salads, eggplant chips with honey, in curries, as a dip (like baba ganoush)…so many ways to enjoy this vegetable, don’t you think? Can’t wait to see what you do with yours
Comment by joey — On August, 31st, 2007 at 6:30 am
I love eggplant. Please come and see my eggplants on my blog. Here is the link:
http://defneden.blogspot.com/2007/01/patlcann-yol-maceralar.html
You will likle it
.
Comment by Defne — On August, 31st, 2007 at 7:10 am
Je suis très heureuse d’avoir decouvert votre blog. beaucoup d’idées ..Les aubergines … un lègume tellement méditerranéen.
Blog magnifique , photos splendides …Je vais suivre les articles pas à pas
Comment by Mélanie — On August, 31st, 2007 at 7:29 am
Lovely aubergines Bea! In Singapore, we also call them brinjals (brin-jols). =)
I do agree that they don’t look very appetising after cooking but they can be really delicious cooked! That’s probably why I stayed away from them when I was little. I love green eggplants in green curry! Mm~!
Comment by evinrude — On August, 31st, 2007 at 8:18 am
My hubby detests eggplants because of how it looks after cooking but I love them. My favorite dishes with eggplants are persian dishes. One is the Eggplant koresh (stew) , second is an appetizer called Mirza Kazame (which is basically grilled eggplant,scrambled eggs, tomato and garlic).
Comment by veron — On August, 31st, 2007 at 9:45 am
lovely colour ,,cute vegetables
Comment by YOYO's Food — On August, 31st, 2007 at 9:59 am
Bea,
I was at a Whole Foods recently and had similar revelations about eggplants – there are so many varieties and they’re all so gorgeous! I saw/held white eggplants, graffiti, Japanese and Thai for the first time. I’m an eggplant lover for sure!
Comment by Hillary — On August, 31st, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Your photos are outstanding!! I love eggplants. I have been making baba ganooj all summer!
Comment by Maria — On August, 31st, 2007 at 2:28 pm
my favorite … Hyderabadi eggplant. Small baby globe eggplants scored open and filled with a sesame and peanut paste and then simmered in a yellow curry with a Hyderabadi garam masala — the usual suspects plus lots of fennel seeds. With basmati rice, you need nothing else.
Comment by vanessa — On August, 31st, 2007 at 4:10 pm
I came across another great food site, fx cuisine, written by a passionate amateur cook. He has a great sicilian eggplant recipe here – http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?Display=102
Among other things, I’ve been growing 2 different varieties of asian eggplant in homemade Earthboxes on my garage roof. My favorite way to prepare them is to lightly grill them and mix with some grilled onions. Roughly chop the grilled vegetables, add some plain yogurt, add chopped dill, mint or parsley, and adjust seasoning. Serve it with some crusty bread.
Comment by Bruce F — On August, 31st, 2007 at 5:00 pm
We’ve got some gorgeous ones growing in our garden (four different varieties . . . they look like your photo!) and are having a ball coming up with ways to enjoy them. Like Sarah, I’ve converted a lot of eggplant haters to eggplant lovers (myself included) by taking people out to the garden to harvest the eggplant themselves (so they let their guard down) and then making something irresistable so they can’t say no.
Comment by swirlingnotions — On August, 31st, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Magnifiques… tes photos sont une fois de plus à tomber!
Comment by mamina — On September, 1st, 2007 at 1:16 am
I never liked egg plant, well, until very recently…that it’s so tasty if cooked right…I will have to try some egg plant recipes.
Comment by Rasa Malaysia — On September, 1st, 2007 at 1:18 am
[...] Béa asks for favorite eggplant recipes. I only have one way I like to cook it these days. It’s a recipe shared verbally by an Israeli co-worker. [...]
Pingback by f00die » Simple Grilled Eggplant — On September, 1st, 2007 at 6:07 am
I’m a lover of egg plants Béa! My mom always cooked the big purple/black ones. I think that’s all there were when I was growing up. It is beautiful to have so many different ones to choose from. I want them all but they don’t last long enough to do that.
I maybe most often just roast them (salt, pepper, olive oil, herb). My sin maybe that I’ll put a drop or two of liquid smoke in the olive oil.
Comment by MyKitchhenInHalfCups — On September, 1st, 2007 at 10:15 am
J’adôre les aubergines, cuisinées sous toutes leurs formes… Une recette découverte cette année sur le blog d’Anne blogbio m’a beaucoup plu: l’Imam Bayildi (http://blogbio.canalblog.com/archives/2006/07/25/2348896.html).
Les photos font très envie; dommage effectivement que la couleur ne passe pas la cuisson.
Comment by Adeline — On September, 1st, 2007 at 12:26 pm
It’s not online yet, but a few months ago, Gourmet ran a recipe for Sicilian Sweet and Sour Eggplant that I am making on an almost weekly basis. We sub parm for the ricotta salata and basil for mint. I am sure the original recipe is devine, but I tend to leverage what I have on hand.
Comment by emho — On September, 1st, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Wow!! I love your site. Great photos. You asked about the book, The Essence of Chocolate. It is a good general book on chocolate. If you want great recipes, or technique, this isn’t the book for you. There is a good reference to the history, the parts of the world the crop comes from, the future of chocolate, etc. Good book for culinary students. I would have bought this book if it were on a recommended reading list.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Kareen
Comment by Kareen — On September, 2nd, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Very beautiful picture of funky eggplants :p
Comment by Wonder Sophie — On September, 2nd, 2007 at 3:03 pm
If only our Engish word was as pretty as aubergine, maybe I could get my kids to try them. They sure are beautiful.
Comment by Michelle at Scribbit — On September, 3rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Used to hate eggplant growing up cos of the color and perceived texture but now i’m a devoted fan. I recently posted this recipe that my ex-boyfriend and I developed..it has got lemon zest and ginger, absolute yumm you’ve gotta try it http://greenolivetree.blogspot.com/2007/08/aubergine-lemon-linguini-with-chicken.html
Comment by kel @ Green Olive Tree — On September, 3rd, 2007 at 10:05 am
Que merveille d’aubergines, de photos et de blog.
Donc je lui donne un prix.
Ici l’a :
http://lacasitaverde.blogspot.com/2007/09/premio-blog-solidrio.html
J’attends qui aime, baisers du Portugal
Comment by Alegna — On September, 3rd, 2007 at 10:14 am
Amazing! Eggplant was the very first food from my garden that came out successfully. Each year, it is something different, but I will always remember the pleasure of those little purple vegetables growing!
Comment by Molly — On September, 3rd, 2007 at 6:11 pm
J’adore les aubergines, quand on les cuit “à point” à la poëlle ou au wok la chair donne une consistance de chair quasi viandeuse…
Recettes préférées: melanzane alla parmigiana et une recette chinoise qui allie aubergines, ail (beaucoup), piments frais et gingembre. Miam!
Merci pour tes belles photos, elles donnent envie d’en manger!
Comment by Thérèse — On September, 4th, 2007 at 4:10 am
Felicitaciones La tartine gourmande, has recibido mi nominación para el premio BLOG SOLIDARIO.
Un beso grande!!!, Mar
http://todocaserito2.blogspot.com/
Comment by Mar-Argentina — On September, 4th, 2007 at 9:09 am
OMG! Your pics are just stunning!
Comment by TBC — On September, 4th, 2007 at 11:40 am
Thank you very much all! I loved reading your comments and recipe suggestions. My eggplant recipes will follow in a short while! Just the time to write up the posts
Thanks again!
Comment by Béa — On September, 4th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
[...] Back to the Eggplants. [...]
Pingback by Eggplant in a Millefeuille — L’aubergine dans un millefeuille by La Tartine Gourmande — On September, 6th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Moi aussi j’ai acheté des aubergines graffiti il y a peu, j’ai trouvé ça frustrant de les faire cuire tellement elles étaient jolies… Tes photos les subliment encore un peu plus, bravo.
Comment by Cocotte — On September, 11th, 2007 at 10:44 am
When we were living in China they would prepare an amazing saute aubergine with basil, yellow soy bean paste, garlic and I think fish sauce (just a touch). The surprising thing that I could never get the chefs to explain to me was how the aubergines they cooked maintained that lovely purple color once cooked – something I have seen nowhere else and have failed to reproduce. Does anyone know the secret?
Thank you,
Luke
Comment by Luke — On May, 29th, 2009 at 10:53 am