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P. C to Stew Egg-Plants
Put them on whole in a plenty of water, and let them simmer till tender. Then take off the skin and divide them. Mash them well in a deep dish, adding a large spoonful butter and some grated bread crumbs. Grate bread crumbs on top, and brown it.
Purple egg-plants are best.--Mrs. M.
A plain nineteenth-century eggplant gratin: boiled whole, mashed with butter and crumbs, then browned. The method is sound, but the original assumes a cook who knows when to stop.
- Boil whole, and drain hardSimmering unpeeled eggplants keeps them from waterlogging, but they still soak up a good deal. After peeling, press the flesh in a colander or squeeze it in a towel before mashing, or the finished dish will be soupy under its crust.
- How long is "till tender"Medium globe eggplants take roughly 20-30 minutes at a bare simmer; a skewer should meet no resistance at the thickest point. Older, larger fruit can take longer and will be seedier.
- "A large spoonful butter"Read this as a generous tablespoon, about 15-20 g, for two medium eggplants. Butter is the only seasoning the recipe names, so add salt and pepper as well; the dish is flat without them.
- Grated bread crumbsThese are dry crumbs grated from a stale loaf on a hand grater, coarser and drier than commercial fine crumbs. Panko or coarse homemade crumbs give the closest texture; toss the topping crumbs with a little melted butter so they colour evenly.
- "Brown it"In a wood-fired kitchen browning was done at the fire, with a heated shovel or a salamander held over the surface. Use a broiler two or three inches from the element for 2-4 minutes, or bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes until the top is set and gold.
- The deep dishThe mashing dish and the baking dish are the same vessel. Any shallow-to-medium ovenproof gratin dish works; a 1-quart size suits two eggplants.
- Purple eggplantsThe preference is for the standard dark globe type; white and striped sorts were also grown in this period. Modern globe eggplants are generally reckoned less bitter than older strains, so the salting-and-draining step some cooks expect is optional.
- YieldTwo medium eggplants prepared this way serve four as a side dish.
Eggplant was grown in Virginia and the Carolinas before it became common in Northern kitchens, and Southern cookbooks of the period treat it as an ordinary garden vegetable; the white, egg-shaped varieties gave the plant its English name. Housekeeping in Old Virginia, compiled by Marion Cabell Tyree and published in 1878, drew on contributions credited to some 250 Virginia housekeepers, frequently by initials only, which is why this recipe ends with an attribution to "Mrs. M." and why so many entries are this brief. The buttered-and-crumbed mash is a treatment such cookbooks also applied to other tender vegetables, among them squash, salsify and tomatoes.