Eggplant

Like beets, eggplants are some of the most misunderstood veggies that people love to hate. But when cooked just right, this savory meat-like vegetable can bring umami on par with a juicy portobello mushroom. Whether you make eggplant parmesan with big round slices, roast and blend up a baba ghanoush, or roast up thinner eggplants, open them up, and stuff them with gooodies, eggplant are a beloved treat.

Unlike just about any other vegetable, the flesh of an eggplant is very spongelike, when it’s not cooked properly it just soaks up a ton of oil and then tastes like squishy oil.

Is Eggplant Bitter?

As most fruits ripen and develop the seeds within, sugars move into the seeds and the surrounding fruit becomes bitter, and eggplant is no exception to that. In general, the well-bred varieties that we use today are really not bitter when picked ripe. People do use various techniques like presoaking in salt water to remove bitterness, but I personally don’t bother with that step and never have any problems.