SC - Fw: Eggplant - summary

[Alderton, Philippa]

More information on eggplants, which some of you might enjoy.


Phlip

Nolo disputare, volo somniare et contendere, et iterum somniare.

phlip at morganco.net

Philippa Farrour
Caer Frig
Southeastern Ohio

"All things are poisons.  It is simply the dose that distinguishes between a
poison and a remedy." -Paracelsus

"Oats -- a grain which in England sustains the horses, and in
Scotland, the men." -- Johnson

"It was pleasant to me to find that 'oats,' the 'food of horses,' were
so much used as the food of the people in Johnson's own town." --
Boswell

"And where will you find such horses, and such men?" -- Anonymous

- -----Original Message-----
From: Steve Balestra <bale002 at pn.itnet.it>
To: BYZANS-L at lists.missouri.edu <BYZANS-L at lists.missouri.edu>
Date: Thursday, March 02, 2000 9:57 AM
Subject: Eggplant - summary


>Dear All,
>
>Thanks to everyone for their great contributions to this eggplant thread.
>I summarize below some of the information we have gathered so far:
>
>1. Introduction to Europe
>
>
>    - eggplant came into the Islamic world from India sometime around the
10thcentury
>
>
>Arabs might have spread it along with other spices, but one should remember
>that the Arabs were not the only medieval mediators from Asia to Europe.
>The people we now call Gypsies were another and they came through e.g.
>Greece by the 1300s. I don't know what their early economy or physiognomy
>was, but the modern dark-skinned Gypsies trading vegetables in e.g. Greece
>could easily give rise to such a name.
>
>2. Lexicon
>
>
>    - the Arabic word for eggplant is 'al-badhinjan' (a Sanskrit loan-word)
>    - the Bulgarian word for eggplant is 'patlagian'
>    - the Russian word for eggplant is 'baklagian'
>    - the Turkish word for eggplant is 'Patlijahn'
>    - the Catalan word for eggplant 'alberginia'
>    - the Greek word for eggplant is 'melitzana',
>    - the standard Italian word for eggplant is 'melanzana'
>    - while in some southern Italian dialects the word is 'mulingnan'
>
>
>I still cannot explain to myself the connection of southern Italian
>dialectal word 'mulingnan', except that the final 'gnan' syllable seems
>to be constistent
>-injan - Arabic
>-gian - Bulgarian
>-gian - Russian
>-jhan - Turkish
>-zana - Greek
>-zana - standard Italian
>
>What does it mean? Any thoughts, suggestions?
>
>3. Great ways to eat eggplant
>
>- papoutsakia - eggplant stuffed and covered with bechamel sauce.
>
>- Melitzanosalata - roast an eggplant in the Weber until it is totally
black.
>Let cool. Peel. Process flesh with as much garlic as you can take, some
>wine vinegar, and dribble in extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil until it
is
>a glutinous mass. Break a loaf of fresh bread into pieces and try and stop
>eating before you are bloated.
>
>- Melinzana parmigiana - eggplant sliced and fried in olive oil, then baked
>in layers with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and parmigian cheese in
between
>and on top.
>
>
>Regards,
>
>Steve
>