562672 Mon Oct 06 07:44:08 -0700 2008 1 31 Home Cooking 0 4084940 No, that's not the name of a dish - although creating one to go with it would be an interesting challenge! This post, untimely as it is, is just to pass along some recently-acquired knowledge about the different varieties. I made and ate more eggplant dishes this summer than ever before, but only last week did I read the info about the vegetable in Deborah Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone". I've been mostly using the typical large purple ones, but she writes that the paler the color, the milder the flavor, white being the mildest. The bitterness is in the seeds, so the early-harvest ones, which haven't yet developed lots of seeds, are milder and don't require salting. Slender Asian varieties are also milder than the chunkier types. The fresher egggplants are, the less bitter, so it's preferable to cook them as soon as possible. They should be kept at 50 degrees or in the fridge. Salting not only removes bitterness, as we know, but keeps oil absorption to a minimum. Eggplants are in the nightshade family, and can aggravate arthritis. Uh-oh, I thought. Then I learned that tomatoes and potatoes are also nightshades - neither are foods I'm willing to avoid, so throwing caution to the winds, I fear no eggplant! Mon Oct 06 07:44:08 -0700 2008 159317 greygarious 1 4084990 Not only the white eggplant/aubergine and the Asian varieties are milder than the deep purple ones, so are the light-purple and creamy Sicilian eggplants. Those are very delicious - just grilled is wonderful, lightly-brushed with olive oil. Yum. A bit of Balsamic vinegar can be a nice addition as well. Yes, I have some arthritis - and so many healthy foods I like (spinach and other high-oxalate foods, as well as the nightshades) are supposed to aggravate it, though I've tried going without and not noticed much difference. Mon Oct 06 08:01:49 -0700 2008 4084940 84119 lagatta