Eggplant, I’ve learned, is polarizing. Its flavor, its texture, and even its shape seem to draw out strong responses from people. Whether you love it or hate it, you feel strongly about the camp you’re in. Which is funny to me, because personally I’m in the middle. I didn’t grow up with eggplant – I’m not even sure if I’d heard of it till college. But my school’s cafeteria didn’t do the vegetables any justice. It wasn’t until making my own ratatouille that I was presented with eggplant in an edible, non-soggy and flavorless form. That experience turned me on to eggplant. I realized its potential for providing an almost creamy element to recipes, when cooked correctly. Alison sure loves a creamy eggplant, and has since exposed me to several other ways to eat it, particularly the oil-roasted method. Which I think I prefer to grilled eggplant.
Grilled eggplant, though it looked pretty, didn’t prove to be the best eating experience. I found that the skin became tougher and hard to chew. I found myself scraping the flesh out with my fork, which was far less appetizing.
The flavor of this recipe… well, there wasn’t a whole lot of it. In my opinion, Alison’s signature move is in-your-face flavor. But this recipe lacked boldness. The toasted walnuts with garlic and pepper flakes were nice but not strong. The basil added some obviously herbal notes, but it didn’t transform anything. Salt and pepper didn’t carry enough weight to make this stand out. And in fact, only two of the four of us ended up eating any of it. I brought my leftovers home, and a week later, they’re still sitting in my fridge, untouched.
All that to say, I’m still squarely in the middle when it comes to eggplant. I really like the oven-roasted kind, but I’m out for soggy or grilled eggplant. I don’t care how tiny and cute the eggplant might be, the recipe needs to have decisive flavor. Do you have eggplant standards, too? I’d love to know!
119 recipes cooked, 106 to go.
