But in the meantime, eggplants everywhere are experiencing profound neglect, accompanied by bouts of depression and seedlessness.
Wait... is that... ?
... a triumphant aubergine? A valiant nightshade overcoming its ghastly fate? A glorious vegetable heaved high towards the heavens, like virtually everything ever written about Beethoven in the 19th century?
There are indeed eggplants to be found in Europe. However, my living situation is so changeable that I haven't been cooking them often enough to keep this poor blog alive. I've encountered a few interesting eggplants in restaurants: for example, Berlin is filled with Vietnamese restaurants that all seem to feature the same eggplant dish. It's some kind of eggplant and green banana in yellow curry sauce, which I've never seen in the US, but it's very common over here:
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| From a Vietnamese restaurant in Kreuzberg. |
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| The same dish, looking virtually identical, at the vegetarian-Vietnamese restaurant Chat Viey. |
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| Those grayish things are the green bananas with skins still attached. |
The dish is pretty good, but not fantastic. It's not as heavenly-creamy as the eggplant at Kim Ba, and the sauce lacks a certain oomph, tasting mostly of turmeric. But the fact that it seems nearly ubiquitous in Vietnamese restaurants in Germany suggests that it's a popular favorite.
While I was back home visiting in Denver, my mother managed to re-create the famous Kim Ba eggplant. I was highly impressed, and perhaps I'll hit her up for the recipe in a future post.
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| This table ought to be familiar to blog readers by now... mainly because 60% of my readership regularly sits at it. |
While I haven't had a lot of opportunity to cook, I did have one giant food-a-thon for my farewell-Berlin party last month, where I made a kickass rendition of mediterranean eggplant tomato salad. My latest approach had an excellent result (recipe below).
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| Eggplant salad: probably the highlight of the absurd piles of food I made. |
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| Tour de la table, from left to right: tabbouleh, moroccan carrot salad, eggplant salad, artichoke hearts, olives, yogurt sauce... |
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| ...spinach feta casserole, chickpea ginger salad, arugula-beet-apple-pine nut salad... |
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| ...and cheese! |
Ingredients
As much eggplant as you want, sliced
Lots of olive oil
Lots of tomato paste
A couple fresh tomatoes, diced
A few sundried tomatoes, minced
Fresh garlic
Salt, pepper, broth powder/cubes
Pinch of sugar
Method
1) Coat the eggplants liberally with olive oil and bake on a tray in the oven, turning occasionally, until they are thoroughly softened, or even falling apart. (ca. 30 minutes)
2) When the eggplants are about 10 minutes away from mushy/roasty perfection, sautée garlic in olive oil until it turns golden (CAUTION: watch garlic the whole time! Do not allow it to burn!)
3) Add tomato paste and sundried tomatoes to the oil. Cook a few minutes, stirring, until color darkens.
4) Add fresh tomatoes and a small amount of water and broth flavoring, creating the consistency of a thick sauce. Simmer, stirring, until fresh tomatoes have broken down.
5) Add the already-roasted eggplant slices and season with additional salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar to taste.
Voilà!
The result is rich, oily, tomato-ey, mushy and yummy and wonderful -- wherever in the world you are.
Next week I'm headed to Turkey, where I hope to have a few actual eggplant adventures to spice up this poor, forgotten blog. Wish me luck!
