Deep Purple

Deep purple is its color. It is often likened to dark velvet. Not that it is fuzzy. On the contrary, with a satin smooth surface, it is as shiny as polished marble. It must be the deepness of its color that makes one think of velvet. I'm talking about aubergines. In Turkish, in many cases the term "aubergine purple" is used to stress the intensity of the color purple. As Turkish people associate their most popular vegetable with this color, it is hard to comprehend why it is called eggplant in English. Of course, no one here knows about the round ivory colored eggplants that are indeed look-alikes of eggs. Some varieties of eggplants in Asia really do look resemble eggs, both in shape and color, and sometimes even in size. 

Eggplant is one vegetable that has the oddest varieties, especially in its home territory, in India and beyond. They can be a yard long and very thin, marble-sized small pellets or they can be bright green, light mauve, beige, yellow, or, as we're used to, have a deep purple skin. The naming of the eggplant is as varied as its shapes or colors. In Turkish, it is "patl?can," a word every visitor needs to learn, as we cook literally hundreds of "patl?can" dishes, from kebabs and mezes to sweets; fried, grilled, roasted, pureed, stewed, baked and even candied. Only Italians can be a mere runner up to Turkish people when it comes to having a certain craziness for eggplants. What they call the eggplant is quite insane actually. 

Mad Apple

"Melanzane" is the word for eggplants in Italian. It actually comes from "mela," or insane, the mad apple. 
 
Bite of the week Recipe of the Week:

Eggplants are fantastic when fried. But they do have a tendency to soak up oil like a sponge, so it...