Fried Egg Plant

Three lines of instruction that assume a cook who already knows how to shallow-fry. The salting step is the one that decides whether the dish is good or greasy.

• Salt water, and whyA light brine (a couple of tablespoons of salt to a quart of water is a common modern proportion) draws out moisture and collapses the spongy cells that otherwise drink fat. The recipe's half hour is enough; drain and press dry between towels, or the egg will slide off.
• Thickness"Thin slices" is usually taken to mean something around 1/4 inch. Thicker rounds will brown before the interior turns creamy; paper-thin ones fall apart in the pan.
• PeelingRemoving the skin is optional with a young, glossy eggplant, where the peel is tender and helps the slices hold together. Older, dull-skinned fruit has tough skin worth cutting away as directed.
• The coatingEgg alone gives a thin omelette-like film. Many cooks add a spoonful of water or milk to the egg and follow it with a dredge in flour, fine crumbs or cornmeal for a crust that holds, though this recipe calls for neither.
• Fat and temperature"Fry in fat" is unspecified; on a period stove it most likely meant shallow frying in a skillet, though deep frying is not ruled out. Modern practice would put the fat around 365-375F: cooler and the slices absorb oil, hotter and the egg scorches before the flesh softens. Two to three minutes a side is usually enough.
• BitternessModern eggplant varieties have been bred largely free of the bitterness that salting was also meant to correct, so the soak is now about texture rather than flavor.
• YieldA medium eggplant will give roughly a dozen slices, enough for three or four as a side, though the recipe specifies no quantity. Drain on paper and salt lightly after frying, since the brine seasons less than cooks expect.