Eggplant the Persian way

Even with a roadside sign, this tiny farmers’ market is easy to miss, tucked as it is in the verdant front grounds of a New England church.

I was in a bit of a rush, as usual, but of course I stopped. The line between “almost late” and “late” is a fine one and I was willing to cross it.

I made a beeline for a table with two quarts of wild blackberries. I bought one of them, along with elderberry jelly — a taste of childhood — and some green beans as slender as haricots verts, picked the night before. Had I not been pressed for time and noticed then the dandelion flower jelly, I would have bought it too. I’ve never tried it. Heck, I’d never heard of it.

I went to another table where a twentyish woman was selling gorgeous young Italian eggplant and pattypan squash, which grow well in the short New England season; squash of all sorts are popular here, perhaps because they’re a reliable crop. She had a slight but faraway accent so I asked, as I frequently do at farmers’ markets and always do in ethnic markets, what is her favorite way to use one of the ingredients, the eggplant. I get good recipes this way.

She told me her mother often makes it in what she called the Persian way. Slice the eggplant, put it in a colander, sprinkle with salt to draw out the moisture and leave it “a long time” to drain. Then saute the eggplant with onion and garlic, add chopped tomatoes and turmeric and let it cook down into a sauce. They serve it over basmati rice.

I knew on the spot what dinner would be, along with some of those delicate green beans, steamed and served with a little lemon butter. Wild blackberries with cream for dessert. What a pity summer is so fleeting.

Cooking Notes: I used two small eggplants, weighing a total of 9 1/2 ounces; I let them drain about an hour and patted them dry before adding them to hot olive oil. The tomatoes weighed just under a pound; I also used their juices. I used a  young onion — very mild — weighing  3 1/2 ounces and one large clove of garlic, minced. I began with 1 tsp. of turmeric but added more, ending up with a total of 1 1/2 teaspoons along with a bit of salt and a couple grinds of pepper. I simmered it, covered but with the lid cracked, in a 2 qt. saute pan for 25-30 minutes. It made enough to serve 4 and was delicious. The eggplants’ flavor shone through. My thanks to the young woman with the faraway accent.

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Tagged as: eggplant, ethnic foods, tomatoes