Eggplant are a staple here. The turkey berry, Solanum torvum, is actually on the State's invasive species list. It is a tall tree with vicious thorns and the birds drop them everywhere. They are hard to kill or even get near, but the fruit is prized for its bitterness in Asian curries.
For the most part eggplant does not have a lot of flavor, except for seediness and bitterness. They actually absorb the flavor of any sauce they are in. It is mostly texture and skin toughness that is noticed. To me they have a mild sweet flavor that I smell more than taste.
Eggplant are easy to grow here, they live and produce for years. The green varieties are more productive for me than the purples and they have a longer life on the bush before they get too hard. A couple of plants produce more than I need. My mother has a wild eggplant that is very thorny but produces so much fruit she only needs the one plant. The thai eggplant produces a lot of little eggplant but they will turn yellow very quickly so they don't have a long bush life. The whites were the least productive. I did try some of the other colors but they are not as productive and most of them were large and round which is good for eggplant parmegiana but not so much for stir fries. Ichiban is a good one. I usually grow Waimanalo long which is a local variety that is not as long as ichiban but is thicker. It was bred for my climate so resists disease better. I usually grow the green eggplant because it is also very disease resistant and more productive than the purple varieties.
You need to find a good lebanese restaurant and they might change your attitude for that plant, it is how it happened to me, I just love Baba Ganoush.jal_ut wrote:Eggplant is a loser. Quite sure I will be just fine if I never taste another. Grow something edible such as crookneck squash!
By it self its not such a good tasting crop, and if it needs to be good straight of the plant its a no no even for me.
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Lindsaylew82
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jal_ut wrote:Eggplant is a loser. Quite sure I will be just fine if I never taste another. Grow something edible such as crookneck squash!
You say that, but you've never had my Eggplant Casserole either. LOL
My brother-in-law refused to eat eggplant his entire life until I brought over a casserole I made with some of them I grew in my garden. Now he loves it----well, mine anyway. Still refuses to eat most others.
I guess it also depends on what you grow up with. It is a staple of many cultures here so there are so many ways to use it. I remember Victory garden did an episode on Lanai and visited a farmer that grew vegetables for the hotel there and the host asked what anyone would do with so much eggplant. I guess he was not a fan either.
It is a very productive plant and it just keeps giving. It is way more productive than zucchini squash used to be. I also have more takers. Zucchini has some uses but it is seasonal so it is usually incidental to the stir fries and tempura. We can get eggplant for most of the year.
It is a very productive plant and it just keeps giving. It is way more productive than zucchini squash used to be. I also have more takers. Zucchini has some uses but it is seasonal so it is usually incidental to the stir fries and tempura. We can get eggplant for most of the year.
catgrass wrote:Eggplant takes on the flavor of whatever it is cooked with. I like it, but I cook it with ground beef, fry it, make parmesean, grill it with cheese and tomato on top, eggplant dressing. And a lot of it depends on whose cooking it!
This is pretty much true Catgrass. I peel and cube mine in1/2 inch cubes and cook it down in some shrimp stock until very tender. Then in another pot I'll do the trinity(onions, bell pepper, celery), and cook that for several minutes before adding garlic, green onions, parsley and several fresh and dried seasonings. To this, I add shrimp that were boiled in seafood seasoning and cut up a bit and reserve a few whole to finish the casserole.
When the eggplant is nice and tender I mix it all together in a large bowl then add Italian bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and place it in a 9 x 11 pan. Then I top it with some Mozzarella Cheese and the whole shrimp boiled in seafood boil. You can store it in the fridge until needed then bake it in the oven uncovered for about 45 minutes at 350 until the cheese is nice and bubbly and slightly browned and serve.
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pepperhead212
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I've known some people who would not eat eggplant, so I would "sneak it in" on them, usually in something puréed, like my ratatoille soup. And tonight (actually, last night, as it reheats very well), for Cinco de Mayo, I used up some of that dried eggplant and dried tomatillo I have, to make a chicken and eggplant in chipotle sauce, and the eggplant was barely recognizable - it just thickened up the sauce even more, when reheated, and it turned out great. I think that's another dish I could use, to fool an eggplant hater, esp. If I use the green skinned hari.
Catgrass and I are both from Louisiana, just opposite sides of the state, but the food is such a part of our culture that it transcends Parish lines. That's counties for the rest of the U.S. by the way. Our way of life revolves around good food shared with family and friends.digitS' wrote:I want Gumbo and Catgrass ..
. to cook my eggplant!
Steve
I've traveled this country on my motorcycle and spent many nights with club members of a motorcycle group I belong to and if time allowed, I'd fix them a good pot of gumbo for their hospitality-------hence the nic Gumbo2176.
