My first exposure to eggplant was in a dish a vegetarian roommate prepared. The eggplant was neither tasty nor not tasty; it was just sort of there. I ate it, but decided that eggplant probably wasn’t my thing.
A few years later at a work lunch, one of my coworkers ordered eggplant parmigiana. When the food came and he saw me eyeing his food (it didn’t look very vegetarian, he appeared to have a breaded chicken breast sitting on his plate!), he offered me a taste. Not wanting to offend, but not looking forward to it, I accepted his offer. And I was surprised at how good it actually was! I guess the secret to preparing eggplant is breading it, deep-frying it, then smothering it in tomato sauce.
So thanks, Morley. I never knew what I was missing out on. 
