No. 2739

Eggplant Fried

Aubergines Frites

Peel some eggplants; cut them into three-eighths of an inch slices, and from these remove round pieces two and a half inches in diameter, using a pastry cutter for the purpose; roll them in flour and then fry to a fine color, or they can be fried plain without any flour.

Another Way is to cut peeled eggplant into three-eighths of an inch slices and divide these into squares; salt over and drain for fifteen minutes on a sieve; wipe on a cloth and flour them quickly, a few at a time; drop them into very hot frying fat, and when done and of a fine color drain, salt and dress either kind on a napkin.

Breaded Eggplant.—Cut each slice a quarter of an inch thick; remove from them rounds two and a quarter inches in diameter; dip them in flour, then in beaten egg, and lastly in bread-crumbs; smooth the breading with a knife and fry to a fine color; drain and dress on a napkin.

← No. 2738 Eggplant Stuffed and Baked Tomatoes, Corn & Garden Vegetables No. 2740 Endives or Escaroles Glazed →

For the Modern Kitchen

Three variations on fried eggplant from Ranhofer's kitchen: plain floured rounds, salted-and-drained squares, and breaded rounds. The salting step in the second method is the one worth carrying into all of them.

Salt and drain, alwaysRanhofer only calls for salting in the second variation, but fifteen minutes under salt on a sieve draws out moisture and collapses the spongy cell structure, so the slices absorb far less fat. Wipe them properly dry before flouring or the coating will slide off in the pan.
Slice thicknessThree-eighths of an inch is a shade under 1 cm; the breaded version at a quarter inch is about 6 mm. The thinner cut for the breaded version makes practical sense, since breadcrumbs brown faster than eggplant cooks, though Ranhofer gives no reason for it.
The pastry-cutter roundsCutting 2½-inch discs from the slices is a service conceit for uniform plating, and it wastes half the vegetable. Skip it for home cooking, or save the trimmings for a caponata or a purée.
"Very hot frying fat"Ranhofer gives no temperature; a modern reading would be roughly 350–365°F. Below that the flour coating soaks; above about 375°F the crumb on the breaded version darkens before the interior turns creamy. The text asks for the slices to be floured a few at a time, so work in small batches and keep the fat from dropping in temperature.
Frying fatRanhofer does not specify a fat here; the frying fat given elsewhere in The Epicurean is rendered beef fat with lard. Any neutral oil with a high smoke point works; olive oil is traditional in southern Italian and Provençal versions but will colour the coating faster.
Flour "quickly, a few at a time"This is not fussiness. Floured eggplant turns damp and pasty within a minute or two of sitting, so dredge only what goes straight into the fat.
Dressing on a napkinA folded linen napkin on the serving dish was the period's standard presentation for fried food, and it absorbed some residual fat. A rack over a sheet pan does the job better and keeps the crust crisp; salt the moment the pieces come out of the oil.
YieldNo quantity is given. One medium eggplant of about 1 lb gives roughly 12 to 16 slices, enough for four as a side.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's for over thirty years, published The Epicurean in 1894 as a complete record of the restaurant's repertoire, and its vegetable chapter reflects how thoroughly French technique had absorbed Mediterranean produce by the end of the century. Eggplant was still regarded by many nineteenth-century households as ornamental or suspect family, which fed a long-lived and unfounded distrust. Ranhofer treats it without any such hesitation, giving it a French name and three orthodox fry treatments identical to what he would have applied to a cutlet or a cardoon. The salting step he describes is often said to be about removing bitterness; older varieties were genuinely bitter, though with modern cultivars the real benefit is the reduced water content and the resulting reduction in oil uptake.