Aubergine

Besides the familiar long, shiny, purple aubergines, you can also buy white, yellow and green ones in varying shapes, some as small as peas. Whichever sort you buy, they should be firm, unwrinkled and heavy for their size. Store in a cool, dark place for up to three days.

Salting used to be recommended to prevent bitterness but this isn’t generally necessary with modern varieties. However, salting will reduce the amount of oil the aubergines soak up, so if you are frying them you might prefer to slice or dice and salt them first. Leave in a colander for 30 minutes to 1 hour, then rinse and pat dry.