RECIPE - Eggplant with Coconut Milk (Berinjela com Leite de Coco)

Eggplants can be cultivated just about everywhere in Brazil, including the tropical north where the climate is similar to India, which is where eggplants were first grown for food. This very simple recipe is a good example of how eggplants are used in Brazil's north, and how they are combined with other tropical ingredients, in this case coconut milk and hot chili peppers. Brazilian cooks tend to be quite liberal with amounts of chili peppers, and this dish in normally quite spicy in Brazil. However you can "defuse" the dish if you wish by lowering the amount of chilis or substituting red or green bell peppers.

The resulting dish takes eggplant in a new direction - away from the Italian, Middle Eastern or Asian flavors we've come to associate with eggplant. Try making eggplant with coconut milk as a side dish next time you serve grilled fish or shrimps. Fish, this eggplant dish and white rice are all you need to make an authentic and marvelously tasty Brazilian meal.
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RECIPE - Eggplant with Coconut Milk (Berinjela com Leite de Coco)
Serves 4

1 large European-style eggplant, sliced thinly along horizontal axis
3 medium white onions, thinly sliced and separated into rings
1 cup (250 ml) cononut milk
1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
red or green hot chili pepper to taste, seeded and finely minced (Note: for non-spicy dish, substitute finely diced red or green bell pepper)
salt to taste
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Preheat oven to 350F (180C). In a glass or aluminum lasagne pan place the slices of eggplant in layers until you have used up all the eggplant. Salt them to taste.  Next toss the onions rings over the eggplant, making sure that all the eggplant is covered. Next, combine the coconut milk and the dairy milk in a large measuring cup and stir to mix thoroughly. Finally, sprinkle as much chili pepper or red pepper as you want to top off the dish.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil, and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove the tin foil, then bake for an additional ten minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes, then serve immediately.


Recipe translated and adapted from Brigadeiro de Colher blog.

RECIPE - Layered Eggplant (Berinjela em Camadas)

This forward-looking recipe for eggplant, which was introduced last year at the SEMANA MESA SP gastronomic week in São Paulo, is the creation of chef Carlos Bertolazzi from C.U.C.I.N.A Gastronomica in that city. It is his reimagining of a classic Italian dish, melanzane alla parmigiana, making use of sustainable, locally-sourced ingredients and substituting wheat germ for less-nutritious white all-purpose flour.
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RECIPE - Layered Eggplant (Berinjela em Camadas)
Serves 4

Eggplant:
1/4 cup (65 ml) wheat germ
1 Tbsp fresh oregano, crumbled
2 Tbsp light soya sauce
1 medium-size, firm European egglant (or 2 smaller ones)
juice of 1/2 lime
extra-virgin olive oil to taste

Filling:
1 Tbsp neutral vegetable oil
2 Tbsp onion, finely minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large ripe tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Worcesterchire sauce
1 large leaf fresh basil
1 cup (250 ml) ricotta cheese
2 Tbsp toasted walnuts, finely chopped
2 Tbsp Italian parsley, finely minced
2 Tbsp green onions, green part only, finely chopped
1/4 cup (65 ml) grated mozzarella cheese
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Prepare the eggplant:
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Wash and dry the eggplant, then slice it into rounds approximately 1/2 inch (1 cm) think. Ideally you should have nine slices - use two eggplants if required. Lay the slices out on a cookie sheet, sprinkle them with the oregano and soy sauce and let stand for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the lime juice over, then dip the slices into the wheat germ, covering both sides. Grease a baking sheet and place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, turning the slices over about halfway through, or until they are golden brown on both sides. Reserve.

Prepare the stuffing:
Heat the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan. Add the chopped onion and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is transparent but not browned. Add the tomato, the salt, the Worcestershire sauce and the basil leaf and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the tomato breaks down. Remove from the heat, let cool, then stir in the ricotta, the walnuts, the parsley and green onion. Reserve.

Complete the dish:
In a small greased casserole arrange one third of the eggplant slices in one layer. Spread some filling on each slice, using up to half of the filling. Top with a second slice of eggplant, and spread an equal quantity of filling on each. Finally, top with the remainng slices of eggplant and sprinkle grated mozzarella over the top surface. Place in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the mozzarella has melted and the filling is hot.

Serve immediately accompanied by a green salad.

VEGETABLES OF BRAZIL - Eggplant (Berinjela)

Brazilians eat a lot of eggplant (Solanum melongena). It's available year-round in markets and supermarkets since most climatic conditions in Brazil are very well suited to cultivation of eggplant. That's really not surprising if you consider the origins of the vegetable - it was first cultived in India in prehistoric times, and temperatures are high almost year round in most of India just like Brazil. It's journey from India to Brazil passes from its native soil to the Middle East via Arab traders, thence on to Spain and Portugal during the period of Moorish occupation, and finally on to Brazil with Portuguese explorers, colonists and immigrants.

The Portuguese word for eggplant, berinjela, comes from a Mughal/Persian word meaning "plant and fruit" that was brought into Arabic and on to Spanish and Portuguese. Interestingly, the Portuguese then carried the word back to India where the current Hindi word for eggplant, brinjal, is a direct derivative of Portuguese berinjela. What goes around comes around.

Brazilian eggplants are normally of the dark-purple rounded variety rather than like those varieties more common in Asia which are a lighter shade of purple, thinner and more elongated. Those available in markets here tend to be smaller than their North American cousins, however. Since the characteristic bitterness of eggplant increases with size, Brazilian eggplants need not be salted and squeezed to eliminate bitter juices and are usually cooked directly.

Although Brazilians in general are enthusiastic carnivores, and vegetarianism in Brazil is barely on the radar, contemporary Brazilian chefs are beginning to use eggplant as the centerpiece of vegetarian main courses. In the many cultures which avail themselves of eggplants, its unique ability to provide a "meatiness" to a vegetarian dish often means that eggplant is the placeholder for meat in a main dish. These chefs are also aware that although eggplant isn't strongly-flavored itself, it absorbs and augments flavors of other vegetables cooked with it, and take advantage of that quality in creation of new dishes.

Flavors of Brazil will feature some traditional and contemporary recipes for eggplant Brazilian-style in the next few posts. Keep tuned.