The eggplant or Solanum melongena for those who like big words is originally from the country of India. In Great Britain it is called the aubergine. In various places around the world it may also be referred to as a garden egg, melongene, guinea squash, or brinjal. Here in Australia it’s called an eggplant (although I occasionally hear it called aubergine). Anyway, it’s a species of nightshade and is used throughout the world in cooking.
It’s comes in a variety of sizes, shapes and colours but is generally about 6 inches long and has a dark purple, almost black skin, with a white, cream centre. It is a very versatile vegetable (botanically classified as a berry) and is very widely used in Indian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean recipes.
I’ll usually grill or roast eggplant to soften the flesh and then scrape it out and use it. In the photograph below I was making Turkish Eggplant and Red Pepper salad.
In the picture below you can see how I have just scooped out the flesh of a grilled eggplant with a spoon. You can take out some of the seeds if you wish but there’s no need to get too fussy. Depending on what you’re going to make with the eggplant you can then dice it or mash it to achieve the texture and size that you’re after. For the Eggplant salad that I was making I just roughly diced the flesh below.
My favourite eggplant dish is the Turkish recipe called Sultan’s Delight. See more Eggplant Recipes.
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