The Ragtag Daily Prompt this morning was EGGPLANT
I will confess my ignorance: I never heard of eggplants until I was an adult, buying my own groceries and cooking my own meals. One recipe book that came along with my husband was The Chatelaine Cookbook; one day I was looking through it and noticed a recipe called Father Fainted. This was an eggplant, tomato & herbs dish that apparently so impressed the writer’s father that she gave it this unusual name.
To peel or not to peel, that is the question. I’ve never pursued the art of creating eggplant dishes because I’m never sure how to peel the things—or don’t you? And since they’re quite bland with no enticing flavour of their own, I pass them by.
When I hear the word EGGPLANT, I rather tend to think of the French word AUBERGINE, which is used quite a bit in England, I gather. And in French an AUBERGE is an inn. I’m not sure just what the connection is there; maybe that’s what guests were fed when they stayed at roadside inns circa 1500?
Then I think of the colour AUBERGINE: “a dark grayish or blackish purple,” according to Merriam-Webster. Which brings me to this tongue-in-cheek verse, a senryu:
cheerful blonde seller
of produce at roadside stand
aubergine roots
😉
Christine's Collection 
I am a big fan of eggplant. But yes, it can be bland and is better when takes on the flavors of the foods with which it’s cooked! I’ve had it peeled and unpeeled, but admit i’ve never cooked it myself. 🙂
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My mom loved eggplant, grew it in her garden when I was a teen. She’d slice it, dip it in egg batter, then crumbs, and then fry it.
I despised it with my whole heart. Ranked right up there with zucchini, which at least you can use to make yummy bread, muffins, or cookies.
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I don’t think we could have grown eggplant here; too far north. The colour turns me off some, I think, but everyone has their preferences.
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It’s one of those vegetables that one either loves or hates the texture.
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