Eggplant Parmigiana – summer on a plate

Parmigiana is one of the most famous specialties of Italian cuisine, and as it usually happens, three Italian regions - Sicily, Campania, and Emilia-Romagna - are "fighting" over its origin. Today, with smaller or bigger variations, it is prepared all over Italy, but also in the world, where it is increasingly making its way and standing next to pizza and pasta dishes.

The origin of the name "Parmigiana"

As with many other famous dishes, the origin of the name is not entirely clear, nor unique. In this case, there are two main assumptions - one attributes this dish to Sicily, and the other to the Italian city of Parma.

The first theory says that Parmigiana got its name from one of its main ingredients - the cheese Parmigiano Reggiano. Apart from that, the adjective "parmigiana" was used in Italy until the 16th century to describe the cuisine typical for the region surrounding the city of Parma.

The second theory, that places Parmigiana in Sicily links this dish to a word from the Sicilian dialect - "parmiciana". This term is used for wooden shutters that, with their parts, resemble stacking the slices of eggplant in layers of Parmigiana.

However, not only Emilia-Romagna and Sicily are fighting over the name of this favorite dish, but also the city of Naples, which would be happy to add it to the list of its many delicacies. It bases its claim on the cookbook "Cuoco galante" written in 1733 by Vincenzo Corrado, the chef of wealthy aristocratic Neapolitan families. However, the recipe described there is miles away from today's Parmigiana, and the ingredients are not eggplants, but zucchini seasoned with butter and Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients of Parmigiana

The main ingredient of Parmigiana is, of course, eggplant, and since they came to Sicily before the rest of Italy, it lends legitimacy to this theory. In this dish eggplants are used fried and combined with tomato sauce and cheeses – depending on the region, they can be mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, but also scamorza and pecorino. The recipes also differ in the method of pre-preparation of the eggplants - sometimes they are just briefly 'turned' in a pan, somewhere they are fried in deep oil, and somewhere, coated with olive oil, in the oven.

In Sicily, in addition to the listed ingredients, they are adding hard-boiled eggs cut into slices, while in Naples they fry the eggplants after dipping them in a tempura-like mixture.

Whichever recipe you decide on, you will definitely make your Parmigiana successfully and make it become your favorite summer recipe. It can be eaten warm, but it's also great cold, the next day. With some green leafy salad, it is a complete and healthy meal.