Eggplant is now one of the more popular Italians summer vegetables, especially in the South, and given its ubiquity and how well it grows under the hot Southern sun, one might expect it to be indigenous.
It's not, however; Eggplant is instead native to India and the Far East, and though it has been grown there since prehistory, only seems to have arrived in Italy via Arab traders in the XV century. They called it badingian, which is the source of the vegetable's Italian names; in some areas the prefix melo was added (melo-badingian), which with time became melangian and eventually Melanzana, and in others pedro, leading with time to petroncianco and petonciano, terms that are still used, though they are much less common than Melanzana.
People have also pointed out that Melanzana can also be reinterpreted as Mela Insana, or noxious apple, and this brings up an important point: Eggplant can be bitter raw, and to draw out this bitterness traditional Italian eggplant recipes say to salt the eggplant, let it rest, and then rinse it and pat it dry (this also reduces the water content of the eggplant to a degree). Many of the more recently developed eggplant cultivars lack this bitterness, though you may still want to salt them simply to reduce their water content.
Eggplant is extremely versatile, and works very well in antipasti, first courses, and side dishes, many of which can also double as a main course. We'll begin with antipasti and go from there.
It's not, however; Eggplant is instead native to India and the Far East, and though it has been grown there since prehistory, only seems to have arrived in Italy via Arab traders in the XV century. They called it badingian, which is the source of the vegetable's Italian names; in some areas the prefix melo was added (melo-badingian), which with time became melangian and eventually Melanzana, and in others pedro, leading with time to petroncianco and petonciano, terms that are still used, though they are much less common than Melanzana.
People have also pointed out that Melanzana can also be reinterpreted as Mela Insana, or noxious apple, and this brings up an important point: Eggplant can be bitter raw, and to draw out this bitterness traditional Italian eggplant recipes say to salt the eggplant, let it rest, and then rinse it and pat it dry (this also reduces the water content of the eggplant to a degree). Many of the more recently developed eggplant cultivars lack this bitterness, though you may still want to salt them simply to reduce their water content.
Eggplant is extremely versatile, and works very well in antipasti, first courses, and side dishes, many of which can also double as a main course. We'll begin with antipasti and go from there.
Josephine Caravetta's Pickled Eggplant
© Kyle Phillips Licensed to About.Com
A classic pickled eggplant recipe from Anne's grandmother!
