Food: A Few Facts on Eggplants

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A Few Facts on Eggplants
Friday, September 30, 2005

Eggplant is a vegetable that few people eat on a regular basis. This veggie is packed with taste and nutrients, however, and should be part of your diet. Eggplant is part of the potato family and comes in a dark purple color. While eggplant is available throughout the year, it is most abundant in August and September.

Despite this lengthy growing season, the eggplant does not like the cold. You can grow them for long periods during the year only if you live in an area of the country where the summers are long and hot. You will need to transplant eggplants from a small, indoor container to the outdoor garden only after there is absolutely no threat of a frost. These plants are sensitive and will not make it through late spring cold spells.

When you do move the eggplants outdoors, you will need to keep the plants 18 to 24 inches away from each other to permit the roots enough room to grow. If your family eats eggplant an average number of times, you will need only about one plant per person to yield enough of the vegetable to have enough but not too many.

You will know when the eggplant is ready for the harvest because the vegetable will be about six inches long. The waxy exterior will be shiny. Hold the vegetable in the palm of your hand and give it a gentle squeeze. It should press in but bounce back quickly when it is ready to harvest.

You will need to wear gloves when you harvest eggplant because the plants, especially in the smaller varieties, have prickly thorn. There is a green top, called a calyx, that grows on eggplant. You should use a small knife instead of twisting off the vegetable, and leave the calyx on the vegetable for protection.

Be careful during this process because despite the tough-looking exterior, eggplants are very easy to bruise. Gather them in small baskets and do not stack many of top of each other.

You cannot keep eggplant for very long. They bitter as they grow older, and they really do not have to be very old for this taste change to begin. Always plan to use an eggplant within two days or purchase or harvest. One way to help keep them fresh is to wrap them in plastic. Be sure that the green cap, or calyx, is still green and still looks fresh when you use the eggplant.

From a cooking standpoint, there are a couple of quick rules to remember. First, you will need to be able to convert the size of the eggplant to the volume the recipe needs. A pound of eggplant equals roughly three cups of the chopped vegetable. One medium-sized eggplant can feed three to four people, especially if served in a dish. This eggplant typically weighs about a pound.

The eggplant is an amazing source of nutrition, and it is a versatile food. Remember those facts when you are planning your garden for next year and give eggplant a try!

By Julia Mercer

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