Stuffed aubergines against cancer

Today, August 22, a new edition of the Aubergine Competition will be held in the Plaza des Pins in Ciutadella, organized by the Local Board of the AECC in Ciutadella, continuing the competition created by the weekly El Iris in the first decade of the 21st century, when it recovered, together with Cope Menorca, the celebration of the day of San Cristóbal, going to dine on the seashore with stuffed aubergines and cakes. After a few years of not being held, the Association Against Cancer of Ciutadella took over, and for now this is one of the main gastronomic events of the summer in Ciutadella, but today what we must do is go and participate and at the same time learn a little more about this local product that is the aubergine.

One of the star products of our summer gastronomy is the aubergine, which was possibly brought to our islands by the Arabs and which is cultivated with those products that in Menorca we call the estivada, which comes from summer.

In Menorca there are black, purple, striped and white aubergines, the latter being highly appreciated and which have been recovered in recent years through organic farming and can be found in the markets in the months of July and August.

It is believed that the white aubergine is the oldest, the original, the one that the Arabs brought to the Peninsula and to our Islands was this one. It is a round, large and completely white aubergine. It has a much sweeter taste than the purple ones and is less bitter, but although it is better valued organoleptically, it was no longer cultivated, since the calyx has large, pointed spines that make it difficult to handle in the field, in the market and in the kitchen.

In the kitchen, the eggplant has been used in Catalan-speaking places since medieval times, and is used to make jams, preserves, and is also used as a confit or as an ingredient in pumpkin soup. It is part of the marraneo, tumbito and escabeches, and is also used to make omelettes or to eat fried or coated and seasoned with a splash of honey - which reminds us of our Arab past - in the same way that we can grill them, but perhaps the way we Menorcans like them the most is stuffed and baked.

In Menorca we also have an old eggplant dish, poor man's eggplants, which are sliced ??eggplants, which we put on a basin and sprinkle with breadcrumbs, garlic and parsley, pepper on top and sprinkle with olive oil and bake.

There are also aubergines stuffed with meat, half beef and half pork, and also some seafood aubergines, stuffed with monkfish and prawns, which we can find in restaurants, even more than those made in the traditional way.

Personally, I like stuffed aubergines the most, baked in the oven and when they have rested, when they are warm or cold, eaten in a sandwich or between two slices of country bread, which is how they were eaten in the old days.