Eggplants with Cilantro

Remember these stripy eggplants? I picked them up last week at Maxwell Farm, in Union Square on Mondays. I had half a bunch of cilantro, and I thought I might try to reproduce an eggplant recipe I enjoyed at the Mandarin Café a Georgian restaurant in Sheepshead bay. The recipe would be more authentically Georgian if the eggplants were roasted rather than grilled, and the balsamic vinegar is also a bit of an interloper, but I am very enthusiastic about this recipe. It is so delicious your eyeballs can just explode into atoms. When you grill these little guys, their flesh just melts into the mildest, softest eggplant custard with barely enough volition to hold their exquisite shapes. I think any of the longer “Asian-style” eggplants will most closely approximate these results. The stripes fade when they cook, but they are still gorgeous.

I have since prepared this recipe again with little globe eggplants, and while it was wonderful, they did not have quite the same melting softness.

Eggplants with Cilantro

10 tiny purple striated eggplants, about 13 ounces, or any tender-fleshed eggplant

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

5 cloves garlic, mashed and coarsely chopped

½ bunch cilantro (generous ½ cup chopped leaves)

salt

Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise if they are tiny, or in slices about 1/3 inch thick. Sprinkle he cut surfaces with salt and leave to drain in a colander for about an hour.

Pat the eggplants dry, and brush both sides of each slice with olive oil. Heat an iron grill on the stove and rub with a bit of olive oil. Grill the eggplant slices on both sides.

Place the cooked eggplant slices in a bowl and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Mix together the garlic, cilantro, a little more of the vinegar, and some olive oil and pour the herb mixture over the eggplants. Mix gently, salt to taste, and allow the salad to relax for an hour or more. Serve cool or at room temperature.

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