Tuesday 16 May 2006

OH, NO! AUBERGINE!

I had lunch at Pizza Express yesterday and there were three new dishes on offer. Three! And all of them featuring AUBERGINE! Why this current culinary obsession with the eggplant? There is absolutely nothing about this vegetable - colour, taste or texture - to justify cursing every possible salad and pizza option with its obnoxious presence!

Yes, I admit, I have eaten aubergine --- and liked it, but only as cooked by my friend Irene at the taverna ‘Artistico’ in Emporios on the Greek island, Kalymnos. The secret there being that Irene takes thinly sliced aubergine, dips it in batter, deep-fries it and drizzles it (as they say on all the best menus these days) with Kalymnian honey. Utterly and unbelievably scrummy! But sadly not available at Pizza Express or probably anywhere else outside Emporios! So, aubergine lovers (and haters): book your flights today...

2 comments:

David Weeks said...

So We are advertising Artistico under the guise of hating Aubergines! What about Il Risotto too?!

Brian Sibley said...

For the uninitiated, 'Il Risotto' is (or was) a terrific Italian restaurant with which we had a short-term love affair in Kennington, but which is now in the process of relocating itself in outer Peckham. Anyway, yes, when it eventually re-opens, I will duly sing its praises and, who knows, may even be persuaded to pass on a few good recipes involving a********!