Plentiful Eggplants

While working on these recipes I was stopped in the supermarket by a lovely lady when she saw me reaching for the eggplants, saying she’d never cooked them before, and did I have any tips for her? Firstly I said ‘you’ve asked the right lady!’ before proceeding to tell her all the ways I like to cook them and that the single most important thing to remember is to cook them until tender right through. There’s really nothing worse than rubbery uncooked eggplant. While other countries and cultures have long known how to handle eggplants (often called aubergines elsewhere in the world), it seems many here in New Zealand are still unsure about them. Most eggplant varieties you’ll find in the shops don’t require salting to remove bitterness found in some older varieties; however, if you slice into one and find large dark seeds in the middle (as opposed to light almost indistinguishable seeds that blend into the flesh) you can sprinkle the slices with salt, set aside 20–30 minutes then rinse and pat dry with a clean tea towel before cooking, just to be sure.