Eggplant Parmigiana

Mi e' parso che Eric James abbia scritto:

Quoted message said:

I thought the object was to slice, then salt and leave to
sweat for half an hour. Rinse and dry thoroughly and
brush with olive oil, then put under the griller until
browned. It's worth a try.

There's much more to it: tomato, mozzarella and grated
parmigiano.
That's a Parmigiana.
BTW - Parmigiana does not derive it's name from the town of
Parma, it is a southern italian recipe.
--
Vilco
Think Pink , Drink Rose'

In article said:

I thought the object was to slice, then salt and leave to sweat for half an
hour. Rinse and dry thoroughly and brush with olive oil, then put under the
griller until browned. It's worth a try.

Is it still really necessary to salt eggplant before cooking; or is
this practice now just a way of adding salt to the cooked end product?

From ???@?????????? Tue Dec 13 22:00:53 2005
Path: Telstra
Newsgrou
ps: rec.food.cooking,aus.food
From: [email hidden] (P
hred)
Subject: Salting eggplant? [Was: Eggplant Parmigiana]
Organization: Just me
References: <[email hidden]>
X-Newsreader: News Xpress 2.01
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2005 12:00:53 GMT
Status: N

In article said:

I thought the object was to slice, then salt and leave to sweat for half an
hour. Rinse and dry thoroughly and brush with olive oil, then put under the
griller until browned. It's worth a try.

Is it still really necessary to salt eggplant before cooking; or is
this practice now just a way of adding salt to the cooked end product?

From ???@?????????? Tue Dec 13 22:00:53 2005
Path: Telstra
Newsgrou
ps: rec.food.cooking,aus.food
From: [email hidden] (P

What's the state of play around the rest of the planet?

Cheers, Phred.

--
[email hidden]

Phred said:

In article <[email hidden]>, "Eric

James said:

I thought the object was to slice, then salt and leave to sweat for
half an
hour. Rinse and dry thoroughly and brush with olive oil, then put
under the
griller until browned. It's worth a try.

Is it still really necessary to salt eggplant before cooking; or is
this practice now just a way of adding salt to the cooked end product?

Salting draws out the excess moisture. The eggplant slices are then rinsed
off and patted dry.

Jill

Quoted message said:

Salting draws out the excess moisture. The eggplant slices are then rinsed off and patted dry.

This method for drawing out moisture also works really well with
zucchini. I like to shred zucchini, put it in a colander add enough
salt to draw out the moisture (not too much as you don't rinse it).
after a half hour or so, I press it to extract additional liquid, saute
some chopped onion in olive oil, then add the zucchini and saute until
the tips of the shredded zucchini just begin to turn brown and most of
the moisture is gone.
This makes a great quick side green veggie that has a great texture
and intense zucchini flavor.

Kev

Mi e' parso che jmcquown abbia scritto:

Quoted message said:

Salting draws out the excess moisture. The eggplant
slices are then rinsed off and patted dry.

Moreover, that moisture carries away a bitter taste, with itself.
--
Vilco
Think Pink , Drink Rose'

"Vilco" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Mi e' parso che jmcquown abbia scritto:

Quoted message said:

Salting draws out the excess moisture. The eggplant
slices are then rinsed off and patted dry.

Moreover, that moisture carries away a bitter taste, with itself.

Yes, some eggplants do have that, same as cucumbers, in my
experience.

nancy

On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 12:00:53 GMT, [email hidden] (Phred)

Quoted message said:

In article said:

I thought the object was to slice, then salt and leave to sweat for half an
hour. Rinse and dry thoroughly and brush with olive oil, then put under the
griller until browned. It's worth a try.

Is it still really necessary to salt eggplant before cooking; or is
this practice now just a way of adding salt to the cooked end product?

Steaming works better than salting IMO.

Nathalie in Switzerland

Nancy Young said:

"Vilco" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Mi e' parso che jmcquown abbia scritto:

Quoted message said:

Salting draws out the excess moisture. The eggplant
slices are then rinsed off and patted dry.

Moreover, that moisture carries away a bitter taste, with itself.

Yes, some eggplants do have that, same as cucumbers, in my
experience.

The big roundish European eggplants often have that bitterness, which
the salting/rinsing reduces. The thin Japanese and Chinese eggplants
don't have it, and so don't need the treatment. (They're also the
wrong shape/size for eggplant parmigiana but that's a different story)
-aem

"aem" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The big roundish European eggplants often have that bitterness, which
the salting/rinsing reduces.

Now I have a real jones for eggplant parm, I will be making
this sometime this week. Love that stuff. Yes, I do salt and rinse.

nancy

Nancy Young said:

"aem" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The big roundish European eggplants often have that bitterness, which
the salting/rinsing reduces.

Now I have a real jones for eggplant parm, I will be making
this sometime this week. Love that stuff. Yes, I do salt and rinse.

nancy

My 2 cents

There was a thread a month or 3 ago about how eggplant will suck up all
the oil it is frying in and become soggy. The salting and draining of the
eggplant is to collpase the eggplants cells (well some of them)which
reduces the eggplants tendancy to drink up oil and thus getting soggy.

You can rinse off the salt before use if you desire...just be sure to pat
dry, well, after you rinse.

Mr Libido Incognito said:

Nancy Young said:

"aem" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

The big roundish European eggplants often have that bitterness, which
the salting/rinsing reduces.

Now I have a real jones for eggplant parm, I will be making
this sometime this week. Love that stuff. Yes, I do salt and rinse.

nancy

My 2 cents

There was a thread a month or 3 ago about how eggplant will suck up all
the oil it is frying in and become soggy. The salting and draining of the
eggplant is to collpase the eggplants cells (well some of them)which
reduces the eggplants tendancy to drink up oil and thus getting soggy.

You can rinse off the salt before use if you desire...just be sure to pat
dry, well, after you rinse.

There's no reason to salt eggplant anymore. Over the past twenty years
or so eggplant has been hydridized to where any bitterness is
essentially nonexistant (now the seeds are fewer ahe smaller). The
bitterness is attributed to the eggplant seeds maturing... one should
still not choose the largest specimens, choose medium sized fruits that
are firm and smooth skined, choose the freshest ones as the seeds
continue to mature after the fruits are picked... once purchased cook
right away, do not leave them setting around for days. With proper
cooking technique it's quite simple to reduce the amount of oil
absorbed by eggplant. Simply use high heat and little oil... brush
eggplant lightly with oil and season, then grill, bake, or cook quickly
on hot griddle... there is no good reason to deep fry eggplant or cook
in so much fat it may as well be. And if you're one of those who wants
no bitterness and peels off the skin then perhaps you shouldn't be
eating eggplant, obviously you don't appreciate it.

Nathalie Chiva said:

Steaming works better than salting IMO.

Steamed eggplant, is that like boiled ribs?

"Mr Libido Incognito" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 13:55:16 -0500, Nancy Young wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Now I have a real jones for eggplant parm, I will be making
this sometime this week. Love that stuff. Yes, I do salt and rinse.

Quoted message said:

There was a thread a month or 3 ago about how eggplant will suck up all
the oil it is frying in and become soggy. The salting and draining of the
eggplant is to collpase the eggplants cells (well some of them)which
reduces the eggplants tendancy to drink up oil and thus getting soggy.

I thought that explanation was great, I did wonder. Reason is that
if eggplant isn't done correctly and absorbs too much oil, it makes
me queasy.

Quoted message said:

You can rinse off the salt before use if you desire...just be sure to pat
dry, well, after you rinse.

Will do. Thanks! nancy

In article said:

Mi e' parso che jmcquown abbia scritto:

Quoted message said:

Salting draws out the excess moisture. The eggplant
slices are then rinsed off and patted dry.

Moreover, that moisture carries away a bitter taste, with itself.

Actually, that was the point I attempted to make, but my post got
completely screwed for some reason and my carefully constructed text
ended up as some random garble beyond the first couple of lines.

I haven't worried about "bitterness" in eggplant for yonks, and I was
wondering if it had been bred out in modern cultivars. [I see that
Sheldon has affirmed that such is the case. Thanks mate.]

As I don't see any reason to "salt" the things to remove (or
"neutralise"😉 the bitter principle, I was left wondering if there was
some reason that other people still seem to do this. (Apart from
habit, that is.)

I can't say I'm entirely convinced by some of the other "reasons"
offered in this thread to date. Perhaps there's some point in that
"draining out the water" bizzo; but maybe just sitting the slices
between layers of absorbent paper for half an hour or so would be just
as effective? And less likely to lead to higher blood pressure. :-)

Cheers, Phred.

--
[email hidden]

"Phred" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I can't say I'm entirely convinced by some of the other "reasons"
offered in this thread to date. Perhaps there's some point in that
"draining out the water" bizzo; but maybe just sitting the slices
between layers of absorbent paper for half an hour or so would be just
as effective? And less likely to lead to higher blood pressure. :-)

Perhaps you don't fry the slices of eggplant. I prefer them
fried for the texture of the final dish. The water doesn't just
drain out of them and the salt draws it out. If you fry them
undrained, they will sop up oil like a sponge.

nancy

"Phred" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I can't say I'm entirely convinced by some of the other "reasons"
offered in this thread to date. Perhaps there's some point in that
"draining out the water" bizzo; but maybe just sitting the slices
between layers of absorbent paper for half an hour or so would be just
as effective? And less likely to lead to higher blood pressure. :-)

Perhaps you don't fry the slices of eggplant. I prefer them
fried for the texture of the final dish. The water doesn't just
drain out of them and the salt draws it out. If you fry them
undrained, they will sop up oil like a sponge.

nancy

Sheldon said:

Nathalie Chiva said:

Steaming works better than salting IMO.

Steamed eggplant, is that like boiled ribs?

Ahem... nope. Just steam eggplant slices for about 8 to 10 minutes,
they should be a bit soft but not too much - the point isn't to cook
them through. Then let them drain for about 15 minutes, and after that
use them per the recipe (for instance breaded and fried, or grilled,
or...). Two advantages: They will be very mellow, and they won't drink
up too much oil.

Nathalie in Switzerland

I find I need to salt mine to take away the bitterness from it.

Quoted message said:

Is it still really necessary to salt eggplant before cooking; or is
this practice now just a way of adding salt to the cooked end product?

I find I need to salt mine to take away the bitterness from it.

Sheldon said:

Mr Libido Incognito said:

Nancy Young said:

"aem" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> The big roundish European eggplants often have that bitterness, which
> the salting/rinsing reduces.

Quoted message said:

There's no reason to salt eggplant anymore. Over the past twenty years
or so eggplant has been hydridized to where any bitterness is
essentially nonexistant (now the seeds are fewer ahe smaller). The
bitterness is attributed to the eggplant seeds maturing... one should
still not choose the largest specimens, choose medium sized fruits that
are firm and smooth skined, choose the freshest ones as the seeds
continue to mature after the fruits are picked... once purchased cook
right away, do not leave them setting around for days. With proper
cooking technique it's quite simple to reduce the amount of oil
absorbed by eggplant. Simply use high heat and little oil... brush
eggplant lightly with oil and season, then grill, bake, or cook quickly
on hot griddle... there is no good reason to deep fry eggplant or cook
in so much fat it may as well be. And if you're one of those who wants
no bitterness and peels off the skin then perhaps you shouldn't be
eating eggplant, obviously you don't appreciate it.

I agree with Sheldon on this. Bitterness is only a problem with
overgrown eggplants, not with the ones I see in the supermarket here. I
never salt them, not needed, unless I somehow get an extra large one,
and I havent seen one of those in a long time.

NT