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“We specialize in growing the Asian varieties of eggplants,” said farmer Andy, one of which—a beautiful slender purple variety called Fairy Tale—inspired what is now one of La Granja’s signature dishes. “I don't like to change these kinds of amazing products too much,” said Eduardo Fiaschi, a Tuscan-born chef Noma alum who cooked his way from Italy to Copenhagen to Tulum Treehouse with interim stints in India and Morocco before joining Jose Catrimán at the helm of La Granja’s Kitchen in 2020.
The barbecued eggplant is served whole in a vegan demi-glace made with mushrooms and seaweed, a very simple preparation that highlights the natural taste of the produce.
Chef Eduardo Fiaschi is a Tuscan-born Noma alum.
“The idea is to keep the flavors simple, which for me, simple is not simple. It's not easy, like the opposite,” said Eduardo. “It's easier in the kitchen to put so many tastes together and confuse the people than keep something very straightforward.”
"This eggplant that we're growing, you can see it in the garden there if you go around before dinner," he continued. "We processed it not too much, so you can feel what we've been doing even before the harvesting. That's kind of what we try to do with everything that we get from the garden."
