Gluten the Enemy

Aubergine and Its Skeptical Introduction to Our Kitchen

By Lesley Jones 

Is it a fruit or a vegetable? Actually,neither. Botanically it's a berry. (Solanum melongena).

We'll call it a vegetable, as it's probably renowned for its addition to savoury dishes. One would think its origins are firmly rooted in the warm Mediterranean countries, but you would have to travel a lot further east.

Whilst it flourished in the hot Asian countries, and is thought to have originated in India, there are records that show it being cultivated in China around the fifth century.

We haven't always enjoyed this beautiful vegetable in Europe.

After the Moors introduced it to Spain and the Arab spice traders took it to Italy, Europe was a little more sceptical, mainly due to the fact that Aubergine is related to the "Nightshade family" which is renowned for its poison. It's no wonder that Venetians were afraid to eat them; in case they went mad, probably aided by the fact the Italian name for aubergine is "Melanzana" which is derived from the Latin name "mad apple".

Eventually in the 1500's aubergines were accepted by Mediterranean cooks, most likely due to the fact that the Jews fled from the south to the north of Italy taking their culinary skills including the aubergine with them and reintroduced it into Venetian cuisine.

Unfortunately, we in Britain would have to wait a few more years before we too could enjoy its delights, unless you were fortunate enough to travel to Europe in the 40's and 50's, which is very unlikely especially with a war going on.

Then following WW2 the post-war rationing began and Elizabeth David arrived on the scene with her cookery books, and her particularly caustic attacks on British food and the boring plain dishes we presented. She introduced Italian and French cooking into our homes, bringing a breath of fresh air into the kitchen, the aubergine came with her and has never left!  Here's my favourite Aubergine dish.

Stuffed Aubergine

Serves 2

Prep time 25 min

Cooking time 1 hour

Ingredients

* 1 medium aubergine, (eggplant) halved (top to bottom)

* 1/2 small red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped

* 1/2 small green pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped

* 1/2 medium onion finely chopped

* 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

* 1/2 (14oz) tin tomatoes (or 4 fresh tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped)

* 1 tbsp tomato puree

* 6 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

* Sliced mozzarella cheese

* Salt and black pepper

Method

* Cut the flesh out the aubergine leaving a lining inside the skin.

* Cut the flesh into cubes (soak in salted water for 30mins to remove any bitterness).

* In a large frying pan, fry the onions in olive oil until golden.

* Add the garlic and aubergine (you may need to add more oil as the aubergines really soak it up) and cook until the aubergine is golden.

* Stir in the peppers, tomatoes, puree, basil, salt and pepper to taste, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

* Place the aubergine skins into a lightly oiled baking dish and brush the insides of the skins with olive oil.

* Fill the two halves with the mixture and top with slices of mozzarella.

* Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350°F, 180°C, Gas mark 4 for 40 minutes.

Lesley Jones is just one half of the duo that makes CookingWithTheJoneses such a great place for finding delicious food recipes, and other 'foodie' information. She and her husband Barry, love cooking, and have been into creating amazing food for over 15 years.

If you have any 'foodie' questions, or would like to recommend a new recipe - visit http://www.CookingWithTheJoneses.com and let Lesley and Barry help you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Lesley_Jones/275488

http://ezinearticles.com/?Aubergine-and-Its-Skeptical-Introduction-to-Our-Kitchen&id=1931797