cuisine

Everything Eggplant

By Caroline Gerdes
Classically trained chef, Fred Heurtin, will perform
a cooking demonstration this week as part of
Fresh Fest at the Red Stick Farmers Market, using eggplant as his inspiratory ingredient.
The aroma of Asian peanut sauce, the crunch of Mediterranean flatbread and the flavors of Southern France all unite in Baton Rouge this weekend, brought together around one common ingredient, the eggplant.

This Saturday morning, when the Red Stick Farmers Market’s Fresh Fest continues, Chef Fred Heurtin will be showing off “Everything Eggplant,” sharing his eggspertise on the vegetable with marketgoers. Fresh Fest is the farmer’s market’s summertime celebration of Louisiana fruits, vegetables, dairy products and meats, that brings chefs from around the region to present cooking demonstrations that put fresh local produce front and center.

“I grew up in a French family,” said Heurtin, a New Orleans native. “Some of the first memories I have are cooking with my mother and aunts.”

Heurtin began waiting tables in his twenties at Emeril’s in New Orleans, where his dream of becoming a chef took shape. He then attended the New England Culinary Institute to further his education after Emeril Lagasse, himself, suggested the school. After graduating, Heurtin worked as a chef at the Windsor Court Hotel and other notable New Orleans restaurants.

So how does a classically trained New Orleans chef end up preparing eggplant for onlookers in Baton Rouge? Heurtin, now a resident of Baton Rouge, visits the Red Stick Farmers Market weekly. He believes the market and its emphasis on buying local are important to the community. Heurtin sees cooking demonstrations as a way to give back to the community as a chef.

This is Heurtin’s second cooking demonstration at the market, but it is his first eggplant demonstration. He is excited to cook with eggplants because they are present in a myriad of cuisines.

”It (the eggplant) is one of the oldest cultivated vegetables. Its so prolific, and has sustained a lot of people for a long time. It has come up with man,” explained Heurtin.

While locals are mostly familiar with southern Louisiana’s fried eggplant dishes, Heurtin’s Everything Eggplant demonstration will showcase light, simple recipes the guests can recreate at home. He will present dishes that celebrate the versatility of the vegetable, featuring the eggplant in a Southern French style, roasted on flatbread in a Mediterranean dish and Heurtin’s personal favorite—grilled. The Asian dish will feature grilled eggplant in a peanut sauce over soba noodles, Japanese buckwheat noodles.

Fresh Fest is a family event, so Heurtin not only chose these dishes for their taste and simplicity, but for the pickiest eaters in every family, the kids.

It can be a battle to get kids to eat their vegetables, but Heurtin feels the pizza-like quality of the flatbread will be appealing to youngsters in any family.

Most of the ingredients used by Heurtin during his presentation will be available at the Farmers Market. Family activities going on Saturday in conjunction with Fresh Fest include face painting for kids and a Butterfly Extravaganza. Fresh Fest will feature a new “vegetable of the week” and chef each Saturday through July 26.

DETAILS. details. DETAILS.

Red Stick Market
Saturday Market: Fifth Street at Main, 8 am–noon
Tuesday Market: Unitarian Church Parking Lot, 8470 Goodwood Boulevard, 8 am–noon
Thursday Market: Parking lot of the LA Dept. of Agriculture building, 5825 Florida Boulevard. Seasonal, May—August
(225) 267-5060

Fresh Fest will take place at the Saturday Red Stick Market, Fifth Street at Main, 8 am–noon.