Internet problems (!) : they don’t totally stop me from working but they make a good excuse, which is bad for productivity.
Names
Scientists: solanum melongena
Americans: eggplant
Englanders: aubergine
South Africans: brinjal
others: melongene, garden egg, guinea squash
Eggplant vs Squash
Eggplant:
Eggplant
Squash:
Squash
Eggplant is a species of nightshade and is usually purple (or white) and that shape. Squash is a genus that contains a bunch of stuff that we eat (zucchini, butternut, spaghetti, acorn…) but not eggplant.
Preparation
Eggplant can be kind of bitter if you just throw it in the pan. To remove bitter:
peel eggplant (unless you are grilling or something else that might make your eggplant fall apart; then the skin holds things intact)
chop your eggplant into disks
lay them flat and sprinkle salt on all of them
let sit for 20 minutes
wipe off salt
Then cook like you would squash. An easy recommendation:
get olive oil hot and drop in eggplant one layer thick
keep that eggplant moving! You don’t want it to burn.
add salt and garlic powder to taste
keep cooking until it is really super cooked. Undercooked eggplant is awful!
Mix in with marinara sauce and drop on spaghetti. Like meatballs!
