Berenjena Frito (my take)
A memorable and delicious dish is sometimes only created to tease our taste buds, to cause conflict in our mouths, to find a more complex story behind the bite where, frankly there is none. One of Spain's best known appetizers is a simple vegetable dish that contrasts a crispy crust with a soft fluffy inside, and a savoury tang that is tempered by the sweetest of drizzles. Berenjena frito is such a dish. I cannot for the life of me remember when I first had eggplant, its deep purple leathery skin shining like polished toe caps, and its spongy ivory flesh ready to transform into cooked velvety joy. I do however, remember eating it in huge quantities as part of a ratatouille in my small studio in Paris many years ago, because ratatouille then was all that I could cook (and badly too, along with over boiled and highly salted rice). No wonder when I finally gave Paris up and returned to family and friends all Prodigal and "so French" I was 115lbs. Since then and mostly t