Aubergines Frites

Aubergines frites (fried aubergine roundels) teach one unforgiving truth: crispness has a clock. The flour must meet a dry slice, the slice must meet properly hot oil, and the finished round must meet its eater without delay. Get that rhythm right and the crust is thin and lightly cragged, while the aubergine inside turns soft and almost creamy.

The source assumed a deep pan of oil already at frying heat, one cook working in batches, and another pair of hands ready to carry the dish on its napkin. The home equivalent is a heavy saucepan, a thermometer, a wire rack, and four diners called to the table before the first batch goes in. The home batch uses two aubergines and one litre of oil, enough for four as a side. The permanent fryer and service runner were brigade scaffolding, so they go; the sequence and immediate service are the dish, so they stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.

The source's smoking oil was a heat test, not an invitation to fill the kitchen with acrid smoke. Bring refined oil to 185°C / 365°F, just below its smoke point, and let the thermometer supply the certainty once provided by a practiced fryer cook. The step that matters most is maintaining that heat between batches; let it fall and the aubergines drink oil before the flour can set.