The Eggplant Matters

An eggplant is a vegetable that is jet black to purple in color with an oblong shape, or it can be tubular like a cucumber or nearly round. A member of the nightshade family of vegetables, its cousins include tomatoes, bell peppers, and potatoes. The eggplant that you might find in the vegetable aisle of your grocery store originated from a wild variety in India. Either the plant, the vegetable, or its seeds must have traveled well since it has made its way through much of human history to end up growing in China, Africa, Europe, South and North America. I found one source that claimed that eating eggplant will improve your vision. I found another source that listed vegetables that are known to improve vision, but eggplant was left off of his list (he does not like to eat eggplant).

But, you don't like eggplant either, do you? Unless you grew up in a family that ate it, you are likely to pass by the dark obese-appearing eggplant and choose a more colorful vegetable for your dinner. Folks who have never had it and try it, are often disappointed when they cut into an eggplant and encounter a spongy mass of flesh and seeds. Walk away, then come back to the cut eggplant on your kitchen counter and you will discover that you like it less because it turned brown. Slice it into little pancakes, coat it with flour, shower it with salt and pepper, and then fry it up in a pan. Now, it will be brown again, grease-soaked and spongy in texture. Yum!

I am not proud of the second paragraph, but I have told you nothing that you would not discover on your own. I cannot find a good source to explain why early European eggplants were the size of hen's eggs, thus the name. Probably, some Medieval horticulture geneticist engineered the size to be more appealing and portable. Today, the name fits the vegetable we find like the pants you wore at age twenty. But, if you switched from eating a high-calorie food to low-calorie/high fiber eggplant (prepared without frying it), you might put yourself on a weight loss path to fit into those pants again.

I implore you to give eggplant a chance. Perhaps you might give it a happier new name since you won't find it shaped like an egg. One author referred to eggplant as a Stygian vegetable, sourced from the Greek Mythological River Styx (which carried the dead to the underworld known as Hades). But, the River Styx was allegedly where mighty Achilles was dipped by his mother, who held him by his heel. The water made him invincible (except at his heel). But, this is a myth. Perhaps Achilles ate an eggplant and became invincible that way. Now you see that eggplant matters! #TAG1writer.

Posted in: fiction