Get To Know Eggplant

Every Sunday morning I listen to Christopher Kimball’s “Milk Street” cooking broadcast on NPR. A few weeks ago there was a segment on the show where a call-in listener asked about eggplant and how to prepare it. The discussion covered fried (as in crispy) eggplant as well as eggplant Parmesan and some other recipes that sent culinary fantasies into my head.

This led to me thinking about this fruit — yes, it’s technically a fruit, actually a berry — and while most home gardeners don’t grow it, it’s one of those things that you should grow at least once and hopefully you’ve got someone who can even cook it up and make it delicious. So, this week, we delve into the eggplant along with its fascinating history, how to grow it and which ones to grow.

As with many of our ancient “vegetables,” eggplant was once considered to be poisonous and dangerous and the source of a wide range of ailments from pimples to insanity. Neither is true, and today it’s appreciated for its beauty and its flavor. It’s an essential ingredient in a number of cuisines being the essence of Greek moussaka, Middle Eastern baba ghanoush, Italian eggplant parmigiana and French ratatouille.

The emergence of Asian cuisine about 25 years ago introduced a whole new range of eggplant varieties that are used to flavor stir fries and curries. Markets now carry eggplants nearly year-round in a stunning array of colors from the traditional royal purple to shades of rose, violet, green and yellow, with some being enhanced with stripes of contrasting colors and varied but subtle different tastes.

Eggplant (Solanum melongena) is believed to have originated in India and was cultivated in China around 500 B.C. Eaten in the Middle East and Asia for centuries, it was taken to Africa by Arabs and Persians during the Middle Ages eventually finding its way to Italy in the 14th century. Even though it was consumed in other parts of the world the Europeans didn’t eat it. In fact, it was called mala insane (mad apple or bad egg). The fruit was considered to be dangerous because it comes from the nightshade family, which contains poisonous plants like jimson weed, angel’s trumpet, belladonna and the deadly nightshade.

Louis XIV, during his reign in the 1600s, was among the first in Europe to introduce it to the dining table. It was not well received though and was described as “as large as pears, but with bad qualities.” For more than a century they were only grown as ornamentals by the Europeans who prized the beautifully purple skin and star-shaped flowers but found the fruit to be bitter and unappealing.

One of my favorite horticulturists, Thomas Jefferson, introduced the eggplant to the United States in the early 1800s. Because of its botanical connection to other poisonous plants, the eggplant remained an ornamental curiosity until the late 1800s and early 1900s. Immigrants arriving from China and Italy brought them with them (the seeds at least) as well as the rich traditions of using eggplants in their cuisines, and this led to its gradual acceptance in North America as a culinary item.

The plant probably got its English name from herbalist John Gerard who described them growing in the 16th century as having “the bigness of a Swan’s egge, and sometimes much greater, of a white colour, sometimes yellow or often browne.” Around the world it has different names. In its native India it’s known as brinjal. In Britain, France and other parts of Europe it’s called aubergine. The Italians refer to it as melanzane while the Greeks call it melitzana. Australians refer to it as eggfruit, and in Africa it’s often called a garden egg.

In nature, eggplants are frost-tender, herbaceous perennials but they are generally treated as heat-loving annuals. The plants are branched and can reach 2 to 4 feet in height being covered with large, hairy leaves, sometimes having tiny spines. They bear attractive, star-shaped flowers in the summer and the flowers can be purple or white. The edible fruit that’s produced can be black, purple, green, white, yellow, orange or red and solid colored, striped or shaded. The flesh is creamy white and speckled with tiny brown seeds.

Depending on the variety, the fruits are harvested from 45 to 90 days from transplants and they are heat-lovers. When growing your own transplants the seed needs to be sown indoors around mid-February (similar to peppers) and never planted until the soil temperature goes above 60 degrees. Unless you are after a specialty eggplant or an unusual one you’ll probably buy transplants at a garden center.

Eggplants are generally classified by the shape of their fruit into one of five groups: globe, elongated or cylindrical, egg-shaped, specialty and pea eggplants. Each of the categories offers a choice of eggplants in varying colors, sizes and days to harvest. In catalogs you’ll usually find information on days from harvest to transplanting and this number will often be in parenthesis.

The most common eggplant in the United States is the Western or oval eggplant that has the characteristic large, deep purple color and pear-shaped fruits. This is the type most commonly used for stuffing, baking, sautéing and grilling. It does have an undeserved reputation for having tough skin and bitter flavor but this should not be an issue if the fruits are harvested at the proper stage of maturity. This is something you have no control over in store-bought eggplants, but you have complete control when you grow your own.

The Japanese varieties are typically small-fruited with a variety of shapes, thin skins and deep purple or violet colors sometimes blended with white or green. The skin is so tender that the fruits don’t need to be peeled before eating. These varieties are great for stir-frying, grilling, sautéing and pickling.

Next week more on how to grow eggplants, potential disease and insect issues, and a few more ideas if you want to grow them from seed next year. Keep growing

You can find a very informative online lecture on pollinators and pollinator gardens by using this link: youtube.com/watch?v=nAqgtAEo2X4. Several readers have already noted that they found the lecture eye opening and informative. Many of you also are very interested in our native lupine. It may be hard to find locally but ask at garden centers and don’t accept anything other than Lupine perennis. Seed is available but you need patience to grow it from seed as well as instructions.

The weather, at least through the middle of May, looks to continue to be cool and damp. This is great transplanting weather, and once early perennials like Dicentra and Primulas have finished flowering they can be divided and or transplanted. This is best done on a cloudy or even misty day with a few cloudy days to follow. While you may notice some plants slowing down a bit in cloudy, cool weather, the roots love it and are thriving. The weather may also be affecting the availability of annuals and vegetable transplants. They are coming; just be patient.

I left my leaf mulch (unshredded) on many of my beds until late April. I know this is tough for some gardeners as they see it as looking untidy but there are two great upsides (at least). First is that the leaves can be fluffed in mid-April to allow air to circulate and prevent the leaves from matting down. The other thing I noticed was grackles, red-winged blackbirds, robins and other birds walking through the beds and using their long beaks to rake through the leaves and debris. They’re looking for worms, beetles and other creatures like ticks, yes ticks, which they devour and feed to their young.

As I always say at this time of the year — and I hear you moan and groan— you should still hold off on fertilizing your lawn for at least two more weeks. And remember, a correctly cut lawn (height wise) should rarely have the cut grass clippings removed. When the clippings are left behind using mulching blades they quickly disappear and reduce your need for fertilizer by as much as a third. If your landscaper or gardener isn’t doing this they are a decade behind the science. And if you just can’t bear to see a clippings on your Meadow Lane lawn at least have them put on your compost pile. That’s a whole ’nother story though.

Grass seed prices have gone through the ceiling. For the most part it has nothing to do with supply chain issues but weather issues. Most of our grass seed comes from Oregon and for several years they’ve had weather issues (cold, hot, wet and dry) that have cut down on harvests and boosted the cost. You may be tempted to use cheaper blends or grass types. Trust me, you’ll regret this move.