Rosie's Seasonal Stars - Aubergines

Rosie Birkett highlights this month’s aubergine crop and how to use it

- Rosie Birkett

One of my favorite American food writers, the late Laurie Colwin, says in Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen (£12.99, Fig Tree) that if you have an ‘eggplant’ in the house, you’ve got a meal in the making. They were her go-to base for so many dishes. ‘I lived on eggplant, the stovetop cook’s strongest ally. I fried it and stewed it, ate it crisp and sludgy, hot and cold. It was cheap and filling and delicious in all manner of strange combinations. If any was leftover, I ate it cold the next day on bread.’

She was so right. Aubergines are versatile, and, once cooked, almost meaty, making them ideal for filling veggie meals. Depending on how much oil is used, they can feel virtuous or indulgent, and there are seemingly endless ways to cook them. Like tomatoes, they are members of the nightshade family, and as the saying goes, ‘what grows together goes together’ – this is proved in ratatouille and caponata. They taste great together, the porous aubergine absorbing the tomato’s juices – seasoned with plenty of olive oil, of course.

In terms of variety, we’re rather spoilt. If you’re looking for something special, keep an eye out for the aptly named ‘graffiti’ or Rosa Bianca aubergines, which are bright purple with vivid streaks of white. While they don’t hold their markings during cooking, they’re a cheerful addition to any shopping haul. I love fat, round aubergines for curries and the small, long aubergines that are almost violet in color – these are often used in Asian cuisine with chili, spring onion, and garlic or ginger. On a recent trip to Malaysia, I tried Thai aubergines for the first time in a lamb and coconut curry. They were small and green, like large peas, very bitter, filled with pips and unlike any aubergine, I’ve ever tasted. I enjoyed them immensely.