You see the dried shells of baby eggplants hanging in markets all over eastern Turkey, and you can safely assume they came from a village called Oğuzeli, near Gaziantep, which specialises in emptying and drying eggplants, zucchini and capsicums at the end of summer, ready to be stuffed during winter.

Of course the stuffing in this recipe can be used with fresh baby eggplants. Just slice off the top, hollow out the core (leaving thickish walls) and fill it with the stuffing. You can use the scooped out flesh to make the eggplant salad on.