Recently I was asked “What about aubergines and potatoes, can you eat them raw or not? “
Well: I have eaten raw aubergines, and when I was a kid, I also had some raw potato; I once made an attempt to create dehydrated potato chips, they tasted quite alright but there’s a lot of room for improvement… So if you have a delicious recipe, let me know!
The reason not to eat raw aubergines or potatoes is an alkaloid called Solanin, which can also be found in green, unripe tomatoes.
For potatoes, that’s the green spots they get, whereas aubergines only contain it as long as they are unripe.
On an interesting side note, pretty much any plant is poisonous, though most of them only if consumed in large amounts.
Ripe aubergines have a bitter taste which you can remove as follows:
Slice them lengthwise and rub salt onto both sides. Staple the slices and place a plate on top. The pressure of the plate and the salt will let the aubergine release a dark liquid. After around one hour, you can rinse the aubergines and use them for whatever recipe you have in mind.
You’ll find a whole bunch of recipes for raw aubergines / eggplant online, for example this one:
Baba Ganoush Dip (not tested):
Ingredients:
1 aubergine, peeled and diced
2-3 TBSP tahini – how long can tahini actually be stored?
200ml olive oil
1 TBSP salt
juice of one lemon
1 clove of garlic
Preparation:
Peel and dice the aubergine.
Place in your food processor or Vitamix.
Add the other ingredients and pulse-blend.
Refrigerate until serving.
Best enjoyed the same day.