Recent research indicates that eggplant is a synthetic invented by an Italian chef in 1665 as a vehicle for parmesan cheese and tomato sauce.
Ref: Ceci, Guiseppe, 1999. Una piccola cellulosa, dell'acqua, del colore di cibo viola--Mange! Gli annali di cucinare. Milan. (English translation: A little cellulose, some water, some purple food color--Come and get it!)
Beard and McKie have this to say about eggplant. "Purplish, meaty vegetable whose taste when cooked--which depends considerably on the method of preparation, and there are many--has been variously compared to burnt liver, fried sandals, scorched clams, a wallet, old magazines, and mud."
Beard, Henry and Roy McKie. 1982. Gardening: A gardener's dictionary. Workman Publishing Co. New York.
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Monique Reed
Texas A&M
(obviously without enough to do on a Tuesday)
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