Fried Eggplant (recipe)
You know one of the unexpected discoveries of having a food blog is realizing how much our parents keep from us about -their- culinary pasts. Before I started TriniGourmet I thought it was reasonable to assume that the foods my parents made were accurate reflections of their respective heritages (Trinidad and Jamaica respectively), and as such included faves from their own childhoods. Not so. It has happened on more than one occasion that a dish I have made here (often for the first time) unlocks a flood gates of “MMMM, I used to eat this all the time as a child”. WHAT?! So how come you never made it for me then? *shrug* “Didn’t seem important” or “Youse forget these things” are the most common variant of reply 
In that respect being a Caribbean food blogger seems even more important when it comes to documenting and preserving these culinary gems in as ‘authentic’ a format as possible. It really boggles my mind. If many of these recipes have fallen to the wayside in a 100% Caribbean home I can only imagine what is going on in the Diaspora! This recipe for fried eggplant was another of those ‘culinary flashbacks’. My father thanked me for making them and told me that yes, again, he ate this often as a boy. Well I never did as no ever made it for me :crying:
Slivers of seasoned eggplant (or melongene as it is more commonly called here in Trinidad) are floured and breaded before being pan fried. The results are a light flavourful crust with a warm molten center. If you are not traditionally a fan of eggplants, this may be just the thing to turn you into a convert! 
Fried Eggplant
From: Caribbean Cookbook
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb eggplant
salt and pepper to taste
flour and breadcrumbs
oil for frying
DIRECTIONS:
1. Peel, wash and cut egplant in 1/2 in thick slices
2. Cover slices thoroughly in a mixture of salt, black pepper, flour and breadcrumbs
3. Let stand for about 10 minutes
4. Shake off excess flour
5. Fry in hot fat til golden brown
so I’d recommend fried eggplant, one of my favorite home recipes aunty Opal used to make http://tinyurl.com/3key4r
They look lovely. How do you get the breadcrumbs to stick to the aubergines?
Malika – after letting the eggplants sit in the salt for a while enough moisture collects on them to help the flour and crumbs to stick
Well we (and I know that TT) too has a dish called biganee – where the sliced eggplant is dipped in phulourie batter and fried. It is served with a chutney. You should try it. There is a recipe in the Naparima cookbook.
Cynthia – Thanks! I’ll give it a look
I’ve seen and heard of it but never actually had it first hand 
Time to change that 
!
you’ve never had baiganee!!! :-O
traditionally we made it sliced in rounds like this, and sometimes in batter like pholourie, and sometimes in actual ground peas (like falafel or tradiitonal kachorie). Those people in Debe make baigan sticks for the baiganee – makes it easier to fill with channa and chutney when it shape like an aloo pie.
Chennette – heheh ‘those people in debe’
but filling it ? sticks? what is this of which you speak? i need photos 
or a road trip!
I have never had baiganee, but I love eggplant!!!
Girl, I saw this picture and practically made the Homer Simpson drooling noise. Mmmmm…. you took me back to my girlhood days with this one. I haven’t made this ever myself — my auntie Opal always used to make it for me. I’m totally going to treat myself this weekend. And CONGRATS on the Black Weblog Award! You got the Judges Vote!!
Road Trip to Debe
Or visit one of the big mosques during Ramadan at sunset on a friendly cultural exchange visit of some kind and scope out the goodies.
Sticks – Cut the eggplant lengthwise about 1″ wide, 1/2″ thick instead of sliced rounds and put that in the batter/dough/paste. That way it fries up like an aloo pie shape, and people treat it like that – fill with channa, chutney etc.
Afrobella – i got an award??? where?!!? haha no one wrote me… what the jailz!!! heheh hope you enjoy nyaming it up this weekend
Chennette – HEHEHEHE
invite me to a mosque nah, i ain’t just gonna drift by hoping for some food hehehe 
that stick thing sounding good! gonna try 
You sure did — http://www.blackweblogawards.com/blog/archives/76
Write them and get your Winner’s Badge!
Afrobella – i sure will! thanks!
what a h00t! 
[...] Gourmet featured a recipe that took me back to my childhood days. My Auntie Opal used to give me fried eggplant for a snack after school sometimes, and it is sooooooooooo good. As timing would have it, eggplant [...]
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