Eggplants

Soft and silky or smoky and full-bodied, versatile eggplants are a star ingredient in many cuisines around the world to add rich, smoky flavour.

Eggplants

Steve Brown

From the pages of

Native to India and Sri Lanka from up to 4000 years ago, eggplant, also known as aubergine or brinjal (Solanum melongena) has been used extensively in Mediterranean and Southern Asian cookery for centuries. It appeared in Britain at the end of the sixteenth century, and now features in many international dishes, from Japan to Greece. Eggplants are a member of the nightshade family and, hence, are related to potatoes and tomatoes. They can be cooked in many ways: roasted, chargrilled, fried, sauteed, stewed or baked.

Varieties

Common eggplant

Large and pendulum shaped, the colour of the common eggplant can vary from deep purple, to almost black, to pale purple streaked with white. Green and yellow varieties can also be found, but are rarely seen in Australia.

Finger or Japanese/Asian eggplant

This long, finger-shaped variety can range in colour from dark purple to striated shades. They have a tender and sweet taste.

Baby or Italian eggplant

Similar in colour and shape to the common eggplant, the baby eggplant is much smaller - almost a miniature version. It has a more delicate skin than the larger variety.

Thai eggplant

Also known as Kermit eggplant, this variety is the size of a golf ball and features whitemauve skin with some green mottling. It is often used in red curries.

Pea eggplant

Used in Thai and Indonesian cooking, these tiny, pea-shaped eggplants come in clusters. Light green in colour, they have a bitter taste and many seeds. Available from Asian greengrocers.

Buying and storing

Look for firm, bright eggplants with a shiny skin that is not wrinkled or with brown patches, and choose those which feel heavy for their size. Eggplants have a short shelf life - if possible, buy on the day of use or store in the crisper section of your fridge for 2-3 days.

Tips and facts

It is thought the name eggplant was derived from white and yellow varieties, which looked like large eggs.
Famous dishes which feature eggplant include Greek moussaka, Turkish imam bayildi (stuffed eggplant) and the French dish, ratatouille.
Eggplants, like tomatoes, are thought of as a vegetable, but are technically a fruit.
It is best to cut eggplants just before using as the flesh oxidises quickly, changing its colour to brown.
Older eggplants tend to get bitter. To remove this bitterness, cut the eggplant and sprinkle with salt. Set aside for 20 to 30 minutes to extract the bitter juices, then rinse in cold water.
In 5th century China, fashionable women made a black dye from eggplants to stain their teeth, and in turn make them shine like silver after polishing.

Lebanese eggplant