There is something very appealing about the shiny deep purple of the aubergines mostly commonly seen in our supermarkets and markets. But not all aubergines are purplish black and although the aubergine has come to epitomise Mediterranean cooking it is in fact an Asian immigrant from China. So depending on where you travel you can find aubergines in varying shapes, sizes and hues. They may be lilac verging on pink, green tinged or pure ivory (hence their American name, eggplant) plain, mottled or streaked. Some grow long and thin, others are small and perfectly round. As numerous as its possible guises are the methods of cooking the aubergine. You can stew it in the French and Italian style, slice it and fry it, halve it and grill it or bake it whole. So if your repertoire of aubergine recipes is limited to ratatouille or moussaka Nina Kehayan will introduce you to 150 recipes from every corner of the world - from the Near East to the Far East, from South America to Russia and beyond. This book is a unique encyclopaedic guide to the world's aubergine recipes as well as the tale of the author, her family's almost sentimental passion for them and their journey over generations from Russia to Provence. ""Essentially Aubergines"" was published originally to a truly impressive collection of enthusiastic reviews and is now available again in paperback.
