Recipe: Spiced Aubergine (or Eggplant) Crisps (2024)

FAQs

Is eggplant the same as aubergine? ›

You might know them as eggplants or you might know them as aubergines, but they are exactly the same plant. The English prefer the latter name, while in North America we use the former.

Today, eggplants are bred not to have that kind of bitterness," Jenkins explains. She does call out one outlier though. "The only exception is when you deep fry it. I tend to soak the slices in a bowl of water with a couple of tablespoon of salt for about 30-45 minutes.

To prepare: In the past many recipes recommended salting aubergines to reduce their bitter flavour, this isn't really necessary nowadays, simply wash the skin and trim off the calyx. Slice or cut the flesh into chunks just before cooking as the flesh browns quickly.

Wash the scarlet eggplants and cut them into very thin slices. Soak them in salted ice water and set aside for 20 minutes. Drain the slices and coat them on flour. Fry in heated oil (180°C) and drain on paper towel.

Aubergine or Eggplant

The British word for eggplant is aubergine, which has French, Catalan, and Arabic origins. Some say the less common white varieties of the typically purple plant led to the name used in the United States, but the terms are generally interchangeable regardless of color or shape.

Eggplant (US, CA, AU, NZ, PH), aubergine (UK, IE), brinjal (IN, SG, MY, ZA), or baigan (GY) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae.

Eggplants are known to absorb a lot of fat while cooking. A useful tip to prevent sogginess and greasiness is to salt sliced or diced eggplant and let it sit for an hour. This helps to draw out moisture. Next, rinse and drain any liquid from the sliced eggplant, then pat dry before cooking.

However, eggplants also contain a substance, solanine, which is used to defend themselves against fungi and insects. It is precisely on this substance that the bitter taste of the eggplants depends. To eliminate it, the most common methods are soaking in water and vinegar and the salt technique.

It helps draw out moisture from the eggplant. You don't have to salt eggplant though, it depends on the texture your looking for. Salting gives it a more creamy texture when cooked and not salting helps the eggplant hold up and be a little firmer after cooked.

What do eggplants go with? Flavourings: garlic, chilli, onion, basil, mint, cumin, parsley, coriander, oregano. Ingredients: haloumi, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, anchovies, olives, tomatoes, eggs, beef, lamb, tahini, yoghurt, lemon juice, olives and olive oil.

What is the best way to eat aubergines? ›

What is the best way to cook aubergines? You can grill, fry, griddle, barbecue and bake aubergines as well as adding them to curries and casseroles. Famous dishes include ratatouille, caponata, moussaka, parmigiana, miso aubergine and imam bayildi.

Eggplant has a flavor similar to summer squash or zucchini: tender, mild, and sweet with a slight vegetal bitterness. Eggplant will absorb the flavor of whatever it's cooked with. Its texture is firm and spongy when raw, and meltingly tender when cooked (especially fried, smoked, or braised).

Do you salt eggplant before making eggplant parmesan. Yes, salting the eggplant before making eggplant parmesan draws out some moisture. This can help the eggplant stay crisp after cooking because it removes some moisture before it has a chance to create sogginess.

In The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison recommends salting slices or cubes for 30 minutes to remove bitterness, 60 or more to achieve better fried eggplant.

Two names for one plant. And much like courgette and zucchini, it's a regional thing. Aubergine is a French word, and it is how Europeans refer to what Americans would typically call an eggplant. We call it eggplant because the original aubergine that was brought to North America by immigrants looked like white eggs.

The Latin/French term aubergine comes from the historical city of Vergina (Βεργίνα) in Greece. The aubergine eggplant is estimated to have been brought to Greece around 325 BC after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC.

Those plants flowered and grew small white and oval fruits that looked just like chicken eggs. British gardeners named these “egg-plants” for their attractive appearance on plants they entered in competitions.

The English common name rocket derives from French roquette, itself a borrowing from Italian ruchetta, a diminutive of ruca, from the Latin word eruca. "Arugula" (/əˈruːɡələ/), the common name now widespread in the United States and Canada, entered American English from a nonstandard dialect of Italian.