Do you eat the skin of an aubergine?

Do you eat the skin of an aubergine?

If the skin is in good shape, it is edible, though some varieties have skin that is too tough to eat. Peel the skin with a vegetable peeler if you think it's wise – younger aubergine skin is fine to eat, but older, more ripened aubergine skin has a bitter taste. Cut off the stem and base, too.

Do you need to salt aubergines before cooking?

In the past, recipes called for aubergines to be sliced and salted before cooking to reduce their bitterness. As modern varieties are much less bitter that's no longer necessary, unless you're planning to fry them; aubergines soak up oil like a sponge and salting helps reduce that.