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Eggplants love high heat and they love oil; combine the two, and you have some very happy eggplants. This is one of the most popular dishes at Jaleo. It’s a salty-sweet combo from the south of Spain, where it would be served with dark sugarcane syrup—part of the Arabic influence that has infused so much of Andalusia’s cooking. We soak the eggplant in buttermilk to remove some of the bitterness and soften the flesh, then drizzle it with the best local honey we can find.

• 2 pounds very firm Japanese eggplants
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup buttermilk (or another cup of milk stirred together with 1 tablespoon white vinegar or fresh lemon juice)
• About 4 cups neutral oil for deep-frying
• About 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
• Maldon salt

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