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Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby Renée » Sat Oct 14, 2017 1:20 pm

Thank you Alexandria. I am just off to the supermarket to get some anchovies and parsley, but will check the aubergines!

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby Pampy » Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:18 pm

I was once served aubergine as a sweet, which I enjoyed. As far as I can remember, thick slices were salted and left for a while before being thoroughly rinsed and patted dry. They were then fried in butter , sprinkled with icing sugar and put under the grill for a couple of minutes for the sugar to caramelise.
Very tasty.

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby Gillthepainter » Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:22 pm

Nice.
I can well imagine that would work.

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby scullion » Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:44 pm

Alexandria wrote:The key is to only purchase Male Aubergines.


i think that's a fallacy. aubergines are a fruit in the same way (and from the same family) as tomatoes. they are seed 'pods'. the way to get them without seeds is by picking them in an immature state before the seeds grow. buy young, shiny fruit rather than older duller fruit if you want less prominent seeds. fewer varieties on sale, nowadays, have any bitterness, it's been bred out of them.

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby Sakkarin » Sat Oct 14, 2017 5:54 pm

I think this one may be a male aubergine.

Image

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby mark111757 » Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:41 pm

For countless years growing up, dad had a garden and corgette was a staple. Mum prepared them very simply. Throughly washed the green on ones, and sliced into discs, coated in flour, and fried in butter. Got a bit tiring after awhile but started off really good. I think mum made eggplant parm once.

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby Mamta1 » Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:43 pm

i think that's a fallacy. aubergines are a fruit in the same way (and from the same family) as tomatoes. they are seed 'pods'. the way to get them without seeds is by picking them in an immature state before the seeds grow. buy young, shiny fruit rather than older duller fruit if you want less prominent seeds. fewer varieties on sale, nowadays, have any bitterness, it's been bred out of them.

That makes sense to me :thumbsup

Post by Sakkarin » Sat Oct 14, 2017 4:54 pm
I think this one may be a male aubergine.

:lol: :lol:

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby Renée » Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:58 pm

I would say so, Sakkarin! I used to have a male-looking tomato too! ;)

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby Alexandria » Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:29 am

Sakkarin wrote:I think this one may be a male aubergine.

Image




@ Sakkarin,

Ha Ha Ha .. 1 of a kind ..

Have a nice weekend !!
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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:31 am

I had a Google and the male / female concept is definitely "a thing"

However I agree with Scullion & Mamta, the part of the flower that swells to form the fruit is the ovary (when I did botany a long time ago we called it the gynaecium, gynae- being obviously female), and males don't have ovaries, so a fruit cannot be male, any more than human males have babies

Aubergines have certainly been bred to have less seeds, and some may even be seedless. But usually all those in a box will be the same variety, though the seeds will be more obvious in the riper ones

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby Alexandria » Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:34 am

Pampy wrote:I was once served aubergine as a sweet, which I enjoyed. As far as I can remember, thick slices were salted and left for a while before being thoroughly rinsed and patted dry. They were then fried in butter , sprinkled with icing sugar and put under the grill for a couple of minutes for the sugar to caramelise.
Very tasty.



@Pampy,

Some Bars in Spain, serve fried aubergine (in Spanish extra virgin olive oil ), dipped in egg & dusted with flour and fried and then drizzled with honey on a plate ..


Have a nice weekend ..
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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby Gillthepainter » Sun Oct 15, 2017 8:53 am

They sound good, Mark.
What a lovely memory.

When I was growing up, we never had butter. I first tasted it when we made it in school with the cream off the top of the milk.
You were lucky.

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby strictlysalsaclare » Sun Oct 15, 2017 12:06 pm

Stokey Sue wrote:I had a Google and the male / female concept is definitely "a thing"

However I agree with Scullion & Mamta, the part of the flower that swells to form the fruit is the ovary (when I did botany a long time ago we called it the gynaecium, gynae- being obviously female), and males don't have ovaries, so a fruit cannot be male, any more than human males have babies

Aubergines have certainly been bred to have less seeds, and some may even be seedless. But usually all those in a box will be the same variety, though the seeds will be more obvious in the riper ones


Mr Strictly, who studied horticulture and has grown aubergines in the distant past, is in agreement with Stokey Sue, Scullion and Mamta1 as well. Although it's been a long time since he's grown a large amount of them, we did have a plant ourselves a few years ago. Unfortunately it wasn't that successful due to the weather and lack of greenhouse. However, he does reckon that the aubergine plant (like many fruits) has both male and female flowers. He also said that the mark on the base of an aubergine is the scar from the flower that has died off. Plus that it's polination that can cause bitterness in aubergines, cucumbers and courgettes.

Love the picture of the male aubergine Sakkarin :lol: !


As far as recipes go, we use aubergines a lot, mainly in pasta or med veg bake recipes. As Gill said, it's great in a puttanesca sauce. I also roast them or put them in a lamb dish where appropriate. I also have plans to make a lasagne focusing on aubergine, tomato and mushrooms at some point. I may have made a curry with some as swell but I think it was one of the ideas that I didn't make in the end for some unknown reason. Mr Strictly once had an aubergine and mushroom cannelloni at work a few months ago, which he really enjoyed.

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby scullion » Sun Oct 15, 2017 1:00 pm

strictlysalsaclare wrote:However, he does reckon that the aubergine plant (like many fruits) has both male and female flowers.


i don't think that's right. the aubergines we grew this year had typical solanum flowers, both sexes in the same flower, rather than in separate flowers.
we had some lovely, big fruits from the poly tunnel with the variety' black beauty'.

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby jeral » Sun Oct 15, 2017 3:19 pm

I think the only aubergine dish I make that hasn't been mentioned is stacks of eating apple, potato and aubergine slices with parmesan (for flavour) and a melty cheese like Emmental to make it gluey, plus herbs of choice e.g. rosemary/thyme. Or the same made as a layered gratin with bread crumb topping, with either parmesan or garlic or both.

On male/female, everything says that fruit can't have a gender, but I think it's odd that spider plant babies have either a few long strong leaves whilst others a dozen crowded shorter leaves. The babies aren't fruit but do grow from the flower pods. On aubergines, it's logical that more seeds grow inside aubergines as they get older as the fruit can "feed" more offspring. Fascinating.

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby Suffs » Sun Oct 15, 2017 3:28 pm

Aubergines do not have separate male and female flowers like squashes do. The flowers of aubergines are 'perfect' and each one contains both male and female elements. However it may be helpful to ensure that the pollen from the male parts do actually manage to get to the female parts ... especially if there are not enough insects around to ensure this.

This article may help https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible ... y-hand.htm

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby strictlysalsaclare » Tue Oct 17, 2017 3:54 pm

I've now remembered that I have made an aubergine curry, and also added mushrooms and potatoes. I served it biryani style by stirring it into some rice, jolly good it was too. Must make it again some time!

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Re: Aubergine / Eggplant: What do you prepare ?

Postby Alexandria » Thu Oct 19, 2017 12:00 pm

Strickly Salsa Clare,

Sounds enticing ..

I have seen similar on Indian Cartes / Menus ..
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