My wife and I started something during Covid where we'd pick a random city in the world (there are websites that do this for you), look at the region's popular/common dishes and pick one to cook for the weekend. Most recent was Mirza Ghasemi: A smoked eggplant dish cooked with garlic, tomatoes, and eggs, from the Caspian Sea area.
We would also sometimes make flatbreads from the area but man is it messy to do in your own place with flour flying around everywhere. We do make the flatbreads sometimes but it's usually easier to just buy frozen paratha from the Indian store.
Biggest surprise - everything's stew.
> Mirza Ghasemi: A smoked eggplant dish cooked with garlic, tomatoes, and eggs, from the Caspian Sea area.
Eggplant is one of those incredible veggies that seemingly not a lot of people know what to do with. You can bake it on a grill or your cooktop stove to give it that amazing smokey taste. I often eat it as-is without adding anything else but pairing with eggs takes it to the next level. There is another dish from that same general region called Ajapsandali which is probably one of the tastiest breakfast meals you'll ever eat if you like eggplant.
I generally like lots of vegetables, and while I can certainly enjoy a good eggplant parmesan (anything breaded and fried with cheese and marinara sauce is usually pretty easy to like), eggplant has got to be my least favorite vegetable, and I've tried it lots of different ways.
It just has the consistency of some kind of styrofoam to me (or else just turns to mush if it's overcooked) with a bitter-ish taste I don't like. While it can serve the purpose of "it just soaks up the flavor/sauce of whatever it's cooked in", there are lots of other vegetables/beans/tofu I'd much rather use for that purpose than eggplant.
Baked and made into a curry works for me. i.e. Baingan Bharta
It's remarkably easy to make at home, although worth trying as a side dish (at a restaurant) if you like Indian food.
Worth bathing the decently sliced eggplant in whipped egg and then in flour, and frying in a decent amount of oil. Add herbs. Simple. This is common in the Mediterranean.
When cooking over gas, it is nice to remove the skin in cold water, chop up coarsely, and add yoghurt, garlic, olive oil, salt and herbs, with a good whizzing up following, to make a decent dip for flatbread or anything else.
I never liked eggplant as a kid, but my Chinese in-laws make some amazing eggplant dishes. My favourite is one where they cut it into inch thick slices, then slice the slice about 3/4 of the way through and stuff it with a seasoned pork mince, dust it with flour and deep fry until golden.
Unagi Don using Aubergine is one of the few vegan cheats that is arguably better than the original. Rukmini Iyer does a nice riff with a vegan traybake on a similar theme that's very easy to throw together
https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/miso-aubergines-with-to...
> using Aubergine
Is “aubergine” a true synonym of “eggplant” or are you referring to a regional variety of some kind, different from the “eggplant” in other comments here?
Aubergines are eggplants are brinjals.
While I don't care for eggplant, I used to make an exception for Moussaka Pizza (eggplant and meatballs) from Waterford Pizza in Waterford, CT. (I believe they're still there; but, it's been 40+ years.)
> Ajapsandali
I looked it up and that looks great. Kind of like vegetarian goulash with all of the peppers. And simple. I think we'll try this soon.
> Mirza Ghasemi: A smoked eggplant dish cooked with garlic, tomatoes, and eggs, from the Caspian Sea area.
That sounds good. Makes me think of hunkar begendi.
everything's stew. everything's a variation of the 4 easiest ingredients for humans to cultivate plus one or two local or regional specials
garlic/onions: aliums that thrive in most climates
rice: grass that can be drowned (to fuck off pests)
eggs: per day, one chicken produces enough binding enzymes to thicken and modify a meal for 5-8 people
veg/seed oils: cooking, flavor, etc
and since that's in the caspian sea area, they also have a ready supply of tomatoes and eggplant from centuries of trading with asia
> from the Caspian Sea area
That's a funny way of saying Gilan, Iran. The dish was invented by (and is named after) Mohammad Ghasem Khan Vali, the governer of Gilan province.
I didn't see that anywhere. Is that like general Tso's chicken being from a chinese general?
No, more like saying that a classic Chinese this is from "Eastern Asia area"
I wonder how close that dish is to the Indian one Baingan Bharta (it lacks eggs).
It's similar but the egg almost makes it like custard and the spice is only turmeric and some red pepper and garlic. It's more subtle.