It’s eggplant time. In warmer parts of the United States, eggplants show up in farm stands in June or July. Here in chilly New England, however, they tend to appear in August or September.
There’s something voluptuous about an eggplant. I love its deep purple hue, the color of royalty, and its curviness.
I only recently learned why we use the name “eggplant.” According to “Fine Gardening” magazine, eggplants originated in Asia before the Christian era. They slowly made their way to Europe, and seeds were brought to this country by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was an avid gardener and gourmet who loved to experiment with new foods.
The original eggplants brought to Europe and the U.S. were small, whitish, and oval in shape. In short, they looked like hens’ eggs. It turns out that there are almost as many different shapes for eggplant as there are for squash.
In many other countries, eggplant is known as “aubergine,” a French name that draws on Persian and Sanskrit.
Entertainingly, when I was a girl visiting France, the meter maids monitoring parking spots were known as “aubergines” because they wore purple uniforms. I have a feeling they may not be called that any longer. (In fact, I’m not sure we use the term “meter maid” here, either. It does sound a bit passé.)
Eggplants are nightshades, flowering plants related to tomatoes, potatoes, and tobacco. Nightshades have beautiful flowers — in fact, people originally thought of eggplant as ornamental rather than edible — and contain small amounts of alkaloids.
Some people are ultra sensitive to alkaloids and can’t eat eggplant. I pity them. For normal people, thank goodness, eggplant holds no danger.
An article from “America’s Test Kitchen” posits that one would have to eat 1,000 eggplants in a sitting to suffer ill effects. Even in that case, I imagine those ill effects would stem as much from eating that much food at once as from the alkaloids.
Nevertheless, at one time the eggplant was known as the “mad apple” or “mala insana,” implying that this beloved food could drive the eater over the brink.
Bizarrely, eggplants are classified as berries, which means they have a single flower and contain many seeds. Even more bizarrely, strawberries and blackberries are not considered true berries.
Last week my friend Esther gave me eggplant from her garden. Her gift had the signature purple color, but it was long, skinny, and curved.
I decided to try something new with it. I wanted to make a simple dip for a cocktail party.
First, I cut my eggplant in half lengthwise to expose the flesh and seeds. I also cut it horizontally so I could spread it around my baking sheet. I drizzled olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper on top; then I roasted it.
I could well have stopped right after the roasting and eaten my eggplant without further ado. I love roasted eggplant.
I was obsessed with creating a new dip, however, so I scooped the flesh and seeds out of the skin and started mixing things up. (I did consume some of the skin as a snack; I hated to discard it since it tastes delicious.)
My concept was simple: create a dip with roasted eggplant, roasted garlic, feta cheese, and a little lemon juice. I love baba ghanoush, but I wanted more emphasis on the flavor of the eggplant so I eschewed some of the traditional baba ingredients.
I combined the eggplant, garlic, feta, and lemon juice and ate a spoonful of my dip. It was tasty. I wanted to add some additional flavor, probably herbs, however. I decided to take my dip to the neighborhood cocktail soiree along with some herbal add-ons.
The gathering was lovely. It took place on Labor Day, which was sunny. The weather was a bit cool for swimming, especially late in the day (we convened at 5:30), but it was still lovely to sit by the water, sip our drinks, and nibble. We watched the light linger on the treetops and then disappear.
Dogs were invited with their humans. My own Cocoa was thrilled with the company and the snacking opportunities.
I asked those in attendance to try different flavor combinations with my dip and decide what it needed, if anything.
The results were mixed. One neighbor enjoyed adding rosemary to the dip. Another opted for basil and parsley. A third insisted that the eggplant and garlic flavors needed nothing more.
I am consequently leaving the choice of herbs (or no herbs!) up to the reader in the recipe below.
Please note that my eggplant was small so the quantities used here are small. Feel free to use a larger eggplant and add more of the other ingredients.
Waterside Eggplant Dip
Ingredients:
enough eggplant to make 1 cup of eggplant purée (I used 2 skinny eggplants.)
salt as needed for draining
1 head garlic
extra-virgin olive as needed for drizzling
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
2 squirts of fresh lemon juice
chopped herbs to taste (maybe rosemary, oregano, basil, or parsley)
Instructions:
Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, and rub salt on the exposed flesh. Place the pieces of eggplant in a colander in the sink. The salt is supposed to make the eggplant a little less absorbent and also to take away any bitter flavor it might possess.
After half an hour, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse off the salt and pat the eggplant dry.
Place the pieces of eggplant on a cookie sheet, flesh side up. Drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle salt and pepper over all.
Remove the outer skin from the head of garlic, and cut off the very top of the head so that the tops of the individual cloves are slightly exposed. Place the head in a small baking dish (a ramekin works fine), top side up. Pour a little olive oil over the top, and rub it in to make sure any exposed garlic is well oiled.
Bake the eggplant and the garlic in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. If you have a very large eggplant, it may take a little longer. The eggplant should be a little golden in color and scoopable.
Let the eggplant and garlic cool for a few minutes; then scoop out the eggplant flesh and place it in a bowl. Use your clean fingers to pop the garlic cloves out of their skin, and mash all the garlic.
Add at least 1/2 teaspoon of mashed garlic to the eggplant. (Refrigerate the rest of the garlic for future use.)
Use an immersion blender, a fork, or a potato masher to combine and puree the mixture. Stir in the cheese and the lemon juice, plus any herbs you fancy.
Serve with veggies or pita chips. Makes a little over a cup of dip.
Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning cookbook author and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.
