Eggplant

vegetables · nightshade family · cooking · berries

Purple berry fruit. Even though we cook eggplant like a vegetable, it's actually the berry of a plant, just like tomatoes and peppers are berries too.

Grown worldwide. Eggplants thrive in warm climates and are now grown on every continent, from Asia to Europe to the Americas.

Nightshade family member. Eggplants belong to the same plant family as tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers, called Solanaceae.

Cooked, not raw. Eggplants are almost always cooked before eating because raw eggplant can taste bitter and feel spongy in an unpleasant way.

Many shapes and sizes. While the purple, pear-shaped eggplant is most common, they also come in white, striped, round, and finger-like varieties.