In his authoritative 1891 book on Italian cooking, La Scienza in Cucina e l’arte di Mangiar Bene (The Science of Cooking and the Art of Eating Well), Pellegrino Artusi wrote: “Forty years ago you could hardly find either eggplant or fennel in the markets here in Florence, because they were considered Jewish food and abhorred.” Artusi was correct that Jews, who knew about eggplants from Baghdad and Iran, brought this member of the nightshade family to Italy and other countries. But as I walked through the streets of Florence this week, after a delicious Italian Jewish lunch at the Mama Florence Cooking School, I could see how attitudes about eggplant have changed in northern Italy. Today, few Italians “abhor” eggplant, which is now a staple of Mediterranean cooking.
Burnt Eggplant Salad
Ingredients
- 1large eggplant (about 1 pound)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ¼to 1/2 cup tahini, or to taste
- 2tablespoons cilantro, parsley, or mint, to taste
- Pomegranate molasses to taste
- Pomegranate seeds, to garnish
- Greek yogurt or feta, to garnish
Yield: 4 servings
Preparation
- Step 1
Grill the whole eggplant over a charcoal or gas burner, turning carefully with tongs for several minutes as the eggplant softens. (If using a stove-top gas burner, first line the stovetop with aluminum foil—this makes clean-up easier.) Continue grilling until soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. If you want to skip the grilling (which can get messy), you can also prick the skin with a fork and bake the eggplant in a 450 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until soft. Using this method, however, will not obtain the same smoky flavor as grilling.
- Step 2
Cool and drain the eggplant in a colander, being sure to retain the charred, smoky skin. Using tongs, carefully put the eggplant on a serving plate, leaving it mostly intact.
- Step 3
Drizzle the eggplant with lemon juice, salt, pepper, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, and tahini. Then scatter on the cilantro, parsley, or mint. Garnish with the pomegranate seeds, and dollops of Greek yogurt, or feta. Serve at room temperature.