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Stuffed Eggplant

A baked dish of eggplant halves filled with ham, breadcrumbs, onion, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Eggplant and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,123 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Stuffed Eggplant

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the filling

  1. Cut the eggplant in half and scoop out the inside.

  2. In a saucepan, combine the eggplant flesh and minced ham with water and boil until soft.

  3. Drain the water and mix in breadcrumbs, butter, minced onion, salt, and pepper.

Stuff and bake

  1. Stuff each half of the eggplant shell with the mixture and top with a lump of butter.

  2. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Eggplant + peppertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,123 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Eggplant + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together870 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggplant
Forms the edible shell and soft, moist filling base once cooked.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb liquid and give the filling body so it holds its shape.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, and browns on the surface as it bakes.
Minced ham
Contributes savory, salty flavor to the filling.

The step that matters

Boiling the eggplant flesh until soft. Eggplant flesh must be fully softened before stuffing, because undercooked flesh stays spongy and bitter and will not blend evenly with the filling. Draining well afterward prevents excess water from making the filling soggy.

Swap the eggplant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, butter, onion, pepper):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Eggplantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, butter, onion, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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