Rory's Roast Slim Jim Aubergines with Dates, Pine nuts, Sorrel and Mint

Ingredients

Slim Jim, a variety of aubergine I love, is long and slender, but the larger more conventionally shaped ones will work perfectly here.

I think some cooks struggle a little when cooking aubergines for the first time as they are not a vegetable that are part of our food culture, hence they take a little longer to understand. They are a fantastic sponge for all sorts of favours and the vegetable itself comes in many different guises.

Known in other parts of the world as egg plant, this odd-sounding name makes perfect sense when you see one of the varieties that is indeed ovoid or egg shaped and white in colour. They range in size from the thumb nail sized pea aubergine to the large shiny tear drop shaped ones we are more used to.

I have seen up to two dozen varieties laid out side by side on pavement markets in south east Asia and that certainly gave me a good indication as to the range of the different members of this remarkable plant. Some solidly coloured, some streaked and some with vicious little thorns near the stalk, I suppose to ward off predators, a selection of them viewed at once is a lovely sight.

The flower of the plant is unexpected and beautiful with purple petals and a golden centre. All in all, there is much to recommend about the aubergine and it is well worth any moments of doubt associated with the initial experience of cooking it.

Sorrel is a favourite herb of mine with its astringent and lemony flavour and I wonder why it is not more widely grown. In my experience, it grows easily and returns each year and spreads a little also. I generally use the domesticated large broad leaf sorrel which has long, slender, arrow shaped leaves. It is worth noting that sorrel grows wild and in profusion and I pick it there also. I know it as Sheeps sorrel and I find it all along the costal cliff walk near where I live. I have also seen it flourishing inland in lovely lush clumps.

This plant is classed as a weed but to me is a delight. It is widely used in classic French cooking and many cooks will know the famous Sorrel Sauce served with salmon created by the Troisgros brothers at their restaurant in Roanne in France.

I learned how to cook that dish many years ago as a young chef training with the Ryan brothers, Declan and Michael at the marvellous Arbutus Lodge in Cork city. It became one of the seminal dishes of the sometimes misunderstood Nouvelle Cuisine movement in France in the 1960s and 70s, a movement which sought to create a lighter, more delicate cuisine than that associated with classic French cooking.

The other variety of sorrel that many have become familiar with in the last few years is wood sorrel or oxalis. It is very distinctive in appearance with pretty light green trefoil shaped leaves. It too has the distinctive lemony flavour of other members of the family, and was brought into general consciousness as an edible weed by the Nordic food movement who adopted it with gusto. It is sometimes confused with shamrock because of its similarity in appearance to the Irish national flower. 

I suppose I would class this dish as modern cooking, but in any event it is a lovely way of showcasing both aubergine and sorrel.

Serves 4

• 2 Slim Jim aubergines or 1 large aubergine
• 2 teaspoons honey
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts 
• Maldon sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
• 4-8 mint leaves
• 2 fat mejool dates

Dressing 

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 large mejool date, stone removed and finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of chopped sorrel leaves or a little more lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon honey
• Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper