Creole Eggplant Soup

Introduced to the American colonies from Africa by Thomas Jefferson, eggplant is often referred to as Guinea squash in Louisiana, where the vegetable has always been much more popular than in other areas of the South—due, most likely, to the large black population there. Except, in fact, for a splendid eggplant soup that chef Bill Neal used to prepare at Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, North Caroli