Aubergine panegyric

This is an aubergine, aka eggplant, aka patlican, aka brinjal, but whatever you call it, it has got to be the sexiest and most versatile vegetable in the culinary repertoire.
No doubt, you - my erudite and much-travelled readers - know about the Turkish IMAM BAYILDI, the stuffed aubergine dish prepared ad hoc by the Imam's wife which caused him to faint (though whether from ecstasy or shock is not clear).
Well, today, I had lunch with my friend V at an Italian restaurant on the corner of 7th and Ash called LunaSole, and we had the SoCal equivalent of the imam's surprise dish, and very very good it was too.

The restaurant posts a daily motto outside. Today's was Cosi e la vita - Such is life. If this is the such that life is, I am all for having a lot more of it before I am finally summoned to the Great Vegetable Patch in the Sky. And I wish a lot of such for all of you who read my blog: a life of good suches, including aubergines and the wonderful things you can do with them.