Trundling my cart resignedly around the supermarket in my usual Thursday evening, gotta-get-it-done way, I was cheered to bump into International Jerusalem Post editor Liat Collins's parents, Yehudit and Chaim, doing their thing in the vegetable department. Selecting a couple of healthy-looking eggplants, I commented on how versatile and inexpensive this vegetable is. That prompted the enthusiastic loan of a cookbook called Simply Eggplant by Shirley Smallheiser (Gefen), from which the following recipe comes: SAVORY QUICK BREAD 3 cups self-rising flour 1â„2 cup wheat germ 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. sugar 3 large cloves garlic, minced 1 medium onion, coarsely grated 1â„2 cup mozzarella, finely grated 1 tsp. sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped 1 heaping cup eggplant, coarsely grated 1 tsp. dried basil, rubbed 1 cup milk 1â„2 cup water paprika for dusting In a large bowl, mix everything except the milk, water and paprika. Stir in the milk and water. Mix well into a thick, very sticky batter. Turn into a well-oiled loaf pan about 25 x 14 x 6.5 cm. Level out the top with slightly dampened fingers, and dust with paprika. Bake at 180Â° on the middle shelf of the oven, for an hour. Turn out and cool on a wire rack. Slice and serve. MY COLLEAGUE Elliot Jager, working across the desk from me on the Post's daily editorial while I hammered out this column, looked up to ask, mildly: "Have you ever wondered why we Americans always say, 'I'll have a tuna fish sandwich,' while Britons just ask for 'a tuna sandwich'? "I mean, is there any other kind of tuna - tuna cow, for instance, or tuna duck?" His London brother-in-law, my co-worker revealed, likes to mock him with this kind of quizzical enquiry. We chewed it over for a while before concluding that there really wasn't any answer other than cultural difference. "On the other hand," he ventured, "there is Chicken of the Sea..." HERE'S AN interesting fish recipe from the Internet - different, but quick to make using store cupboard ingredients. ITALIAN TUNA PASTA 400 gr. tuna in oil 2 Tbsp. olive oil 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed 1 800-gr. can plum tomatoes, chopped 6 anchovy fillets, drained and chopped 2 Tbsp. capers, chopped 1 tsp. dried basil 450 gr. macaroni or penne salt and pepper to taste grated Parmesan Drain the oil from the tuna into a large saucepan. Add the olive oil and saute the onion and garlic gently until softened. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 25 minutes, until thickened. Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water according to the packet instructions. Add the tuna, anchovies, capers and basil to the tomato sauce and heat through. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the tuna sauce spooned over the hot pasta. Sprinkle the Parmesan on top. THIS CAKE, made in a bundt pan, earned plaudits at a recent Shabbat kiddush in Jerusalem. Our hostess, just back from abroad, picked up the recipe via a bridge group in Hamilton, Ontario. PHYLLIS MANCINI'S CARROT CAKE 500 gr. carrots, shredded 21â„2 cups + 2 Tbsp. flour 11â„2 tsp. baking powder 11â„2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. cinnamon 3 eggs 1 cup oil 11â„2 cups sugar 1 tsp. vanilla essence 1 cup chopped walnuts 1 small can of pineapple chunks, drained 1 cup raisins Mix the sugar, oil and vanilla, and beat well. Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each one, then add the dry ingredients. Mix well. Add the carrots. Mix 2 Tbsp. flour over the nuts and raisins. Then add the pineapple, nuts and raisins to the batter. Grease and flour the pan. Pour in the batter and bake in a 180Â° oven for 45-50 minutes, or until done. THE FLYER in my mailbox read: "Sambooki Bagel - with cream cheese verity or with verity of fish and vegetables." Rather than this being just one of Israel's variety of English misspellings, I chose to view it as a subtle bid for truth in advertising. judymo@jpost.com

Short Order: There's no such thing as a tuna duck

Here's an interesting fish recipe from the Internet - different, but quick to make using store cupboard ingredients.