Starving Artists: Starving Artists -> Eggplant Fever

Do eggplants sweat? Huh. Lol, yeah, profusely after a crazy workout! A salt workout that is. I just recently tried eggplants and am on an eggplant kick. I've had eggplant before during potlucks, but it was never anything to write home about. However, da hubz bought an eggplant several days ago and we sat there and looked at it, then we looked at each other. Finally the question emerged. "Do you know how to cook an eggplant?" "Nope, I don't, do you?" "No." So we looked at the eggplant wondering how the heck were we going to cook it.

Thank goodness for the internet where it listed a bazillion recipes for eggplant and throughout it all, it instructed one to "sweat" the eggplant. Hmmm, how the heck do we sweat an eggplant? Do we like give it a hard time or something? Well, it turns out eggplants are bitter in taste and the moisture must be drawn out to get rid of the bitterness. Apparently, the water it contains makes it bitter, so drawing out the water/moisture helps resolve the bitterness. I read as well that the more seeds an eggplant has the more bitter it is. I'm not sure since I've just recently discovered the eggplant.

So it was recommended to use kosher salt or sea salt because it's not as salty as regular table salt. And this will help draw out the moisture, the bitterness. I found conflicting info as to how long to 'sweat' the eggplant. Some say 30 minutes, while others mentioned to sweat it up to two hours. Two hours? Wow! After salting the eggplant and letting it sit for a while, little droplets of moisture developed on the surface, hence, the term "sweating" The moisture is being extracted by the salt from within and on the surface of the eggplant. After letting the eggplant sweat, it should be blotted dry, then rinsed to remove the excess salt. Afterward, the cooking begins...however you please, yay!!!!

We've just been slicing them, spicing them up with seasoning, then sauteing them on a pan with a spray of pam. They are so delicious just right out of the stove, yum! The texture is slightly spongy but a lot more "meaty" than spongy. So if you're a person with texture sensitivities, then eggplants may not be such a hot idea for ya. Although, I do suggest trying it first before saying "It's nasty, I don't like it." But I know people who can't stand to eat bananas because of the texture, though, I think life would be a bit boring without nanners for sure.

Anyways, in all this eggplant cooking experimentation, I started wondering, why the heck do we call eggplants, eggplant, if they don't even look like eggs at all. It's got the word "egg" in it, but it hardly resembles an egg. Well, the eggplant, aka aubergine or brinjal, is a plant of the family Solanaceae and is native to Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India. The eggplant is botanically classified as a berry, the reason it's also referred to as aubergine (french) the berry. It contains small seeds, which are edible but bitter. Yeah, but why the name eggplant? Okay, okay, I'm getting to that, hold them horses.

The name eggplant, used in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, refers to the eggplants of the 1700 or 1800 European cultivar, were white in color and slightly narrower, resembling a goose or hen's eggs. Hence, the word egg in the name eggplant, which has remained until this day. Interesting. (btw, there are eggplants that are white and from what I gathered, they aren't as bitter as their purple counterpart. And you don't have to sweat them before cooking either!) It is said that experimental botanist Thomas Jefferson brought the eggplant to the US and used it primarily as a tabletop decoration. Now, curious George wants to know...was that Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson? Thomas Jefferson as in the third president of the US Thomas Jefferson? Well, I'm too tired right now to search the answer to that question. So I'll leave it for now.

In the meantime, eggplants are yummy and meaty. Actually, they are quite bland but because their texture is somewhat spongy and bland, they easily take on whatever flavor they are cooked with, kinda like tofu. They can easily take the place of meat, too. The reason it's used so much by vegetarians. So now I know if I ever want to be a vegetarian for a day or two or even a week, there's always the good ol' eggplant that'll take me there...there over there....way over there yonder....away from the high fatty meats! Also, eggplants are a nice low-fat food...low in saturated fat, and cholesterol. When I googled the nutrients for eggplants, I found it's a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Pantothenic Acid, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper, and definitely a great source of fiber, Folate, Potassium and Manganese. So something I'll have to remember, if I ever feel constipated, I can turn to eggplants to help me with that issue, right?

Ahhhh, eggplants, eggplants, wherefore were thou oh eggplants, eggplants, my newly-found food.