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Eggplant
Solanum melongena · Fruit vegetable
5 varieties40 pairings
The eggplant (Solanum melongena), known as aubergine or brinjal, is the glossy, deep-purple fruit of a nightshade grown and eaten as a vegetable. Its spongy, pale flesh is bland and faintly bitter raw, but turns silky, savoury and almost meaty once roasted, grilled or fried — a sponge for oil and smoke across the cuisines of the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Asia.
Picking a good onedrag
Glossy, heavy, springs backDull, light, spongy
Shop firmThe all-rounder: roast, fry, stew, parmigiana.Everyday best
CapCap green, edges drying back
SkinGlossy, a scuff or two
The pressDent fades as you watch
Smell at the capAlmost no smell at all
What to look for, from glossy, heavy, springs back to dull, light, spongy.
What one gives you
97%
Usable yield
548 g · cap and stem off
565 g
Typical weight
one specimen
Keeping ittap a band
Below 10 C it pits, bronzes and the seeds brown — at 5 C that takes about a week, so the salad drawer is colder than an aubergine wants.
Humidity
90–95%
It loses water fast through that big thin skin; much drier than 90% and the shoulders shrivel and the flesh turns cottony.
Airflow
Loosely bagged
A perforated bag or loose film keeps it plump; sealed airtight, condensation beads on the skin and rot follows at the cap.
The cap browns beside ripening fruit
It gives off very little ethylene itself but reacts badly to it: a ppm from apples or tomatoes browns the calyx and softens the fruit.