AUBERGINES WITH HONEY

This is one of the best ways to get children to eat aubergines (not a favourite vegetable with most kids) The key to cooking aubergine is to give it either very hot oil or enough time - raw aubergine is inedible.  Middle East countries are the ones who 'understand aubergines' best (I have tried dozens of wonderful dishes with aubergines in my many trips there when I was doing foreign affairs) This recipe comes from the South of Spain though.

This makes a snack or first course dish for four.

You need:

- an aubergine
- 75 g plain flour
- 25 g chickpea flour (if you do not have this then do it with plain flour only, but the aubergines will be less crispy)
- salt
- a small bottle of fizzy water (or beer - don't worry, the alcohol will evaporate)
- 3 table spoons of honey
- one table spoon of water
- a glass of olive oil


Cut the aubergine into thick matchsticks, put them in a bowl and cover them with the fizzy water or beer. Let them rest for 30 minutes.
Salt the aubergine sticks. Then combine the flours in another bowl. Heat the oil in a frying pan until it is very hot (this really has to be very hot, so whenever you thing it is ready give it a couple off additional minutes). Dust the aubergine sticks with the flours' mixture and fry them until they are golden on both sides (do not fry too many in each go or the temperature of the oil will go down and the aubergines will not get crispy). They should get golden after a minute or so on each side. Get the aubergine sticks off the pan and put them on kitchen paper.

Heat the honey with the tablespoon of water into a small pan for half a minute. Pour it over the aubergines. That's it.

Children eat these in seconds.