Blog #2 - Featured Ingredient: the Eggplant.
The Latest News For The Picobelly CommunityWelcome to Picobelly’s monthly featured ingredient! This month we will have a closer look at beautiful looking and deliciously tasking eggplant! We want to provide you with some tips and show you where this magical plant comes from.
History
The ancient ancestors of eggplant grew wild in India and were first cultivated in China in the 5th century B.C. Eggplant was introduced to Africa before the Middle Ages and then into Italy, the country with which it has long been associated, in the 14th century. It spread throughout Europe and the Middle East and, centuries later was brought to the Western Hemisphere by European explorers. Today, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, China, and Japan are the leading growers of eggplant!
The eggplant
Characterized for its deeply purple, glossy beauty as well as its unique taste and texture, eggplants are now available in markets throughout the year, but they are at their very best from August through October when they are in season. The skin is glossy and deep purple in color, while the flesh is cream-colored and spongy inconsistency.
In addition to this variety, eggplant is also available in other colors including lavender, jade green, orange, and yellow-white, as well as in sizes and shapes that range from that of a small tomato to a large zucchini.
How to select in-store
Choose eggplants that are firm and heavy for their size. Their skin should be smooth and shiny, and their color, whether it be purple, white or green, should be vivid. They should be free of discoloration, scars, and bruises, which usually indicate that the flesh beneath has become damaged and possibly decayed.
The stem and cap, on either end of the eggplant, should be bright green in color. To test for the ripeness of an eggplant, gently press the skin with the pad of your thumb. If it springs back, the eggplant is ripe, while if an indentation remains, it is not.
Sweating the eggplant (pro tip)
To tenderize the flesh's texture and reduce some of its bitter taste, you can sweat the eggplant by salting it. After cutting the eggplant into the desired size and shape, sprinkle it with salt and allow it to rest for about 30 minutes. This process will pull out some of its water content and make it less permeable to absorbing any oil used in cooking. Rinsing the eggplant after "sweating" will remove most of the salt.
Dish #1: Italy - Parmigiana Di Melanzane
Eggplant Parmesan (Parmigiana di melanzane), is a truly classic Italian dish that has become immensely popular around the world, even spawning other versions of "Parmesan"-style dishes that don't really exist in Italy (or at least not under this name), such as Chicken Parmesan, Veal Parmesan, etc. It is, however, sometimes made with zucchini in place of eggplant in Italy: Parmigiana di zucchine.
In spite of the name, which means "Parma-style Eggplant," it originates in Naples, not the Emilia-Romagna town of Parma. Presumably, it refers to the use of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in the dish, together with the more typically Neapolitan mozzarella cheese. Use the freshest and most flavorful eggplants you can find, though this dish will still be fantastic with winter eggplant, and use buffalo mozzarella.
Dish #1: China - sichuan eggplant (Yu xiang qie zi)
This dish, almost more than any other, expresses for the gorgeous layering of flavors that is the signature of Sichuanese cooking. Pickled chillies, either on their own or with fermented fava beans in the famous Sichuan chilli bean sauce, give the dish its warmth and luster; garlic, ginger and spring onions add a luxurious kick of flavor and a hint of sweet and sour serves to harmonize all the other tastes. The same sauce, minus the eggplant, can be poured over steamed or deep-fried seafood or chicken; while a similar combination of flavorings can be used to cook slivered pork, or as a dressing for cold, cooked peas or fava beans. They call this complex flavor “fish-fragrant” because it draws on the seasonings used in Sichuanese fish cooking, so it is supposed to recall to those who eat it the taste of fish.
This unique fish fragrant sauce is made with pickled red pepper, garlic, ginger, scallions, salt, soy sauce and vinegar. It is firstly used to cook fishes. So this dish has nothing to do with fish meat!
Dish #1: Turkey - baba ganoush
Baba Ghanoush is an eggplant dish that originated in Levant cuisine, frequently used for dipping. It is served mostly as an appetizer. The dish contains mainly olive oil and eggplant. Some cultures add in tahini, garlic, and pomegranate concentrate or lemon juice to add depth of flavor. In the Turkish culture, it is called both baba ghanoush and patlican salatasi, which means eggplant salad. Most of the time it is either boiled or broiled until it is soft and then mashed with additional flavors and olive oil. Many cultures serve the mashed mixture with rice, pitas or another type of bread native to their nation.
Baba Ghanoush is eaten in many Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, Lebanon and extending as far as the territorial reach of the Ottoman empire. But Baba Ghanoush also is big in Brazil and West India. Romanians and Greeks also consume the appetizer. Other countries that include this food in their diets are Punjab, West India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Israel.
