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
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ReplyDeleteAubergine like tomato and potato is belong to the nightshade family of vegetables. It has great health benefits: rich in phenolic an antioxidant compound, which helps to have a healthy heart and blood vessels. Egg plant contains minerals; such as manganese, copper and potassium, vitamins; vitamin K, vitamin B1,B 6,B 3 and folates.
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