There is an apocryphal story about Turkish cuisine and hospitality. The guest at a dinner is offered a typically enormous array of mezes, all, as is standard in Turkish food, containing some variant on aubergines. Wave after wave of dishes come, all with aubergines - even the deserts. Our diner is getting more and more full. But Turkish hospitality dictates that he has to turn down offers of more at least a dozen times before he will be believed. Eventually, he is offered a glass of water. He replies "Yes please. But could I possibly have it without aubergines?"

Here is a classic aubergine dish.

Imam Bayildi

- the Imam fainted. The dish was so good that the Imam fainted with pleasure.

Take some small-ish aubergines. Cut in half. Scoop out the flesh and chop it.
Fry in olive oil with onions, garlic, tomatoes, garlic, raisins, pine nuts, a dash of chilli, salt, a little tomato puree, a little cinnamon. and/or allspice.

Fill the hollowed aubergines with the mixture. Arrange in an oven dish, spooning over any excess mixture, and drizzle with some more oil. Cover lightly with foil. Bake, Gas 4 (350 F) for maybe an hour.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

*** Turkish Language and Culture ***
Some Turkish musical genres:
Halk Musigi - Folk music. Ouds (lutes) and rebabs.(vertical fiddles) etc. Notable exponents, Muhabbet.
Arabesk - Poppish. A cross between bouzouki and Egyptian pop. Notable exponent, Ibrahim Tatlises.
Ottoman Classical music - bizarre arrythmic martial marches. Influential on Mozart, apparently.
Dervis - Meditational Sufi music. Mellow. Notable exponent - Suleyman Erguner (Ney improvisations).
Sanat Musigi - "Art" music. Non-classical but serious popular music. No proper British equivalent - but think Jacques Brel, Edith Piaf, Dagmar Krause, Lotte Lenya, Scott Walker even. Everybody’s favourite exponent is Zeki Muren - a fat transvestite now in his sixties.