Purée d’Aubergine

If there is one unifying vegetable of the countries bordering the Mediterranean it is surely the bulging purple-skinned aubergine. It is an amazingly accommodating creature, happily fried, baked, stuffed or pureed. In a tiny restaurant in the Var I discovered this aubergine purée flavoured with mint – a herb which is not widely used in French cooking but is, of course, characteristic of the cuisines further east in the Mediterranean.