That’s right, eggplant is a fruit in the botanical world. If it grows from the flower & bears seeds, it’s a fruit. So, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini, are all fruit.
Our history with eggplant has not been nice to this purple produce. Around 2500 years ago, the eggplant was grown in Asia, and many linked it to insanity and even death. The superstition lasted all the way until the middle ages, and even today, Egyptians use the phrase “crazy like an eggplant”. The name sounded similar to wind in Sanskrit (which is also like being called “flighty”), and evolving from Persian, Spanish, and eventually Italian, sounds like”crazy apple”.
And why is it called eggplant anyway? Where is the sense in that? Well, the white variety looks like an egg growing from a tree, so there you have it.
As if the name didn’t cause enough confusion & fables, doctors in the ninth century thought the fruit (or vegetable) caused leprosy, cancer, and even…FRECKLES (the horror!). This may have been due to the spongy texture that raw eggplant has.
Through all of the opposition and ignorance, the cultured and adventurous came up with some of the best staples of international cuisine. We thank the foodies of history for Baba Ghanoush & eggplant parmesan. And healthy or not, it is hard to resist the classic fried and salted eggplant snack (done right, under medium high heat and salted when cooked).
With plant-based lifestyles becoming more and more common over the past several decades, the eggplant is now used in hundreds of ways as a main course or side. It probably all started with eggplant parmesan and then just grew from there. Everything from eggplant bacon, meatballs, steaks, kabobs, and even jerky (we got a recipe for that here), tofu has moved over for something leaner.
High in antioxidants, and good for your heart, eggplant also has a whopping 19 grams of fiber in a regular size fruit. It’s loaded with tons of vitamins and nutrients, including manganese, potassium, and folate, and has 6 grams of protein. So the case for eggplant being good for you obviously outweighs the tall tales, as does the versatility vs. the fear of it being yucky. To get the most nutritionally, eggplant is best steamed.
So, open up your kitchen to the world of possibilities of eggplant, the sky really is the limit.
