Listada di Gandia - perhaps the most beautiful of all??

**nctomatoman** · July 10, 2006

Here is our harvest from yesterday -

Large black traditional shape is Black Beauty, two long slender blacks are Millionaire, two more pale shorter lavendars are Slim Jim, and Listada di Gandia is here:

I haven't grown it since 2000 due to low yield, but it is in a better location this year and loading up well. I think it could be one of the parents of Zebra and Purple Rain - the Purple Rain F2s I've grown look very much like Listada.

wjpurdy · July 18, 2006

Yep. Lovely little things. I just harvested eight of them from my four plants this morning & I'm trying to decide what to do with them. I found a recipe for stuffed eggplants in an Indian cookbook that looks mighty tasty -- that'll take care of 6 -- and the other two might wind up in a ratatouile tomorrow.

I also planted Thai Purple Eggs (one of the plants is producing identical ping pong ball-sized fruits, but ghost white instead of that pretty lavender) -- GREAT in stir fries -- and Rosa Bianca, which to date has produced three MASSIVE, ribbed, fist-shaped lavender things that grill up with a delicious deep creaminess I have never experienced in an eggplant (the Listada di Gandia, by the way, grill up a bit more meaty, with a firmer bite and a slight but by no means offputting bitterness).

Production has been far beyond my expectations with all three varieties, despite the japanese beetle scourge (I let 'em run their course) and, now, the tomato hornworm scourge (numbers in check for now). It's my first garden since moving to the Raleigh area, and I could not be more pleased with the results.

**nctomatoman** · July 18, 2006

I found that the huge Black Beauty and New York Improved fruit work great for eggplant parmesan (I posted the recipe in another thread) - in fact, Sunday was a long stint in the kitchen making sauce from the various tomatoes I saved seed from, peppers (including my first Cubanelle and red Belgium, and the first red Jimmy Nardello) - then using that sauce in the final dish. For us, using baked rather than fried breaded eggplant slices is the way to go!

We use the more slender ones such as Millionaire and Slim Jim in ratatouille, since the slices are not as large.

wjpurdy · July 18, 2006

Thanks for the reminder, Craig... I grill so many eggplants I forget how nice an occasional treat fried, breaded eggplant can be (my mom used to make it when I was a kid & fry it in olive oil and butter). Baked sounds good, too (I saw your recipe some time ago & made a mental note to give it a whirl).

I went ahead and started preparing the stuffed eggplant recipe. I seriously underestimated the size of the things -- two, halved, filled my entire roasting pan & will feed 6 adults tonight.

Like other eggplants I've grown, the heat turns the skin brown, but the dramatic striping is retained.

The stuffing (I diverted from the published recipe, as usual) includes the meat of the roasted eggplants (halved lengthwise and roasted for an hour or more, then smooshed), a couple tablespoons of dry toasted coriander (crushed lightly with a mortar and pestle), salt, chili powder, a large vidalia onion, about 6 tiny okras from my still-waiting-to-get-started okra plants (what else am I going to do with them?), several cloves of garlic, and a bunch of diced peppers harvested form my several italian heirloom pepper plants. Fry all of it up in a bit of ghee, stuff the old skins: instant party.

I have several more Listada di Gandias that I think I will grill up real pretty, let cool, then marinate in extra virgin olive oil with a few cloves of garlic, salt, and pepper. After a couple days, it should make one heck of an antipasto.

I'll let you know how it turns out...

(I suspect by the time the summer's done, I'll have several more eggplant recipes to share... the garden is practically overflowing with them.)

Raymondo · September 24, 2006

I've been trying to track down some info on Listada di Gandia with little success. Plenty of descriptions about how pretty it is but no history.
Does anyone know its provenance and how long it's been around? The name is Italian, I think, but beyond that?

Grub · September 24, 2006

I have quite a bunch of Listada di Gandia seedlings popping out of the mix.

July 10, 2006	#1
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	Listada di Gandia - perhaps the most beautiful of all?? Here is our harvest from yesterday - Large black traditional shape is Black Beauty, two long slender blacks are Millionaire, two more pale shorter lavendars are Slim Jim, and Listada di Gandia is here: I haven't grown it since 2000 due to low yield, but it is in a better location this year and loading up well. I think it could be one of the parents of Zebra and Purple Rain - the Purple Rain F2s I've grown look very much like Listada. __________________ Craig

July 18, 2006	#3
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	I found that the huge Black Beauty and New York Improved fruit work great for eggplant parmesan (I posted the recipe in another thread) - in fact, Sunday was a long stint in the kitchen making sauce from the various tomatoes I saved seed from, peppers (including my first Cubanelle and red Belgium, and the first red Jimmy Nardello) - then using that sauce in the final dish. For us, using baked rather than fried breaded eggplant slices is the way to go! We use the more slender ones such as Millionaire and Slim Jim in ratatouille, since the slices are not as large. __________________ Craig

September 24, 2006	#5
Raymondo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia Posts: 946	Any background? I've been trying to track down some info on Listada di Gandia with little success. Plenty of descriptions about how pretty it is but no history. Does anyone know its provenance and how long it's been around? The name is Italian, I think, but beyond that? __________________ Ray

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July 18, 2006	#2
wjpurdy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Rolesville, NC Z-7/8 Posts: 2	Yep. Lovely little things. I just harvested eight of them from my four plants this morning & I'm trying to decide what to do with them. I found a recipe for stuffed eggplants in an Indian cookbook that looks mighty tasty -- that'll take care of 6 -- and the other two might wind up in a ratatouile tomorrow. I also planted Thai Purple Eggs (one of the plants is producing identical ping pong ball-sized fruits, but ghost white instead of that pretty lavender) -- GREAT in stir fries -- and Rosa Bianca, which to date has produced three MASSIVE, ribbed, fist-shaped lavender things that grill up with a delicious deep creaminess I have never experienced in an eggplant (the Listada di Gandia, by the way, grill up a bit more meaty, with a firmer bite and a slight but by no means offputting bitterness). Production has been far beyond my expectations with all three varieties, despite the japanese beetle scourge (I let 'em run their course) and, now, the tomato hornworm scourge (numbers in check for now). It's my first garden since moving to the Raleigh area, and I could not be more pleased with the results.

September 24, 2006	#6
Grub Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 2,722	I have quite a bunch of Listada di Gandia seedlings popping out of the mix.