Sometimes I do. It's one of those things that you pick up from some reputable but forgettable source - and carry on doing because it seems like 'the right way'. I'm not sure where I came across this advice, but for a long time I diligently did it, just because.
"Degorging" is in fact meant to extract the bitter juices from the fruit. I've never tasted a bitter aubergine in my life, and that's because bitterness has been bred out of modern varieties available in the UK. It also stops them soaking up excess oil when you cook them. Why would you want to do that? They are so much more delicious when succulent with oil and juices, when they melt on the tongue like butter. I have come to this conclusion via a combination sheer laziness and casual observation. So my informed answer is: 'usually I don't bother'.
Everybody has to eat, and most people have to cook. Your repertoire of dishes, your unique culinary personality, is of course influenced by taste, but also by experience - what you ate as a child, what you learned to prepare as a sticky-fingered toddler or ravenous adolescent, what somebody kind cooked you when you felt ill, the people you've shared kitchens with, places you've visited, restaurants you've been to on dates and for birthdays, which shops you live near, the friendliness of the soil in your garden - the list is infinite. What do you cook when you're tired and hungry and wish to bumble around the kitchen with your eyes half shut? For me it's creamy macaroni cheese with leeks and bacon and the tang of mustard and really mature cheddar. Preparing and eating this dish is for me the kitchen equivalent (and is indeed usually accompanied by) donning pyjamas and slippers at the end of a hard day. Your dish might be different, but the effect the same.
And so to the motivation for this blog. Eating is one of the greatest joys in life! Ergo, improving your cooking skills will make you happier! Kitchen rituals and heritage should be cherished - comforting and nourishing as they are. They are at their finest when shared and passed on. But there's also value in rejecting dogma, finding new ways, expanding your repertoire. Explore new ingredients, try new recipes. Cultivate your own kitchen lore. Taste memory is extraordinarily powerful. Fuel your appetite for new experiences - ask yourself: "what food will take me back to now?"
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