okay, so you're probably wondering what in the world i'm talking about ..... and asking yourself why you would even need to know the sex of your eggplant?!
apparently, you can tell whether your aubergine is male or female from the marking on its bottom. the female will have a round brown one, and the male, a small line instead. this is relevant in terms of cooking because the male fruit, or vegetable as we generally call it, contains fewer seeds than the female, making it the better choice for many dishes. of course, the older the eggplant is (harvested), the more developed and tougher any seeds it does have will be. i'm not sure if this works with all types of eggplant, though.
example of a male eggplant:
note the straight line across the center
almost no seeds inside [this time, at least! i've been duped in the past but it often works — of course, someone may turn around and comment that this is total BS but it's still fun to believe it's true. and hey, here's the proof before your very eyes.... and this was a fairly large eggplant] :
very few seeds ....
apparently, you can tell whether your aubergine is male or female from the marking on its bottom. the female will have a round brown one, and the male, a small line instead. this is relevant in terms of cooking because the male fruit, or vegetable as we generally call it, contains fewer seeds than the female, making it the better choice for many dishes. of course, the older the eggplant is (harvested), the more developed and tougher any seeds it does have will be. i'm not sure if this works with all types of eggplant, though.
example of a male eggplant:
note the straight line across the centeralmost no seeds inside [this time, at least! i've been duped in the past but it often works — of course, someone may turn around and comment that this is total BS but it's still fun to believe it's true. and hey, here's the proof before your very eyes.... and this was a fairly large eggplant] :
very few seeds ....
i'm gonna feel like such a perv now at the supermarket :P
ReplyDeleteI really wondered what you wanted to talk about ;-P... I didn't know that! Thanks for the useful infos. Now, I'm going to check if my eggplants are vegetable "boys" and/or "girls"...
ReplyDeletesarina - LOL! no comment!!
ReplyDeleterosa - i didn't really believe it myself but who knows, like i said, it's fun to think it does. have fun hunting down the boys! hehe ;p
Useful info BB. Will test next time :) Viji
ReplyDeletehi viji - hope it works. you'll still find seeds but there should be less than average.
ReplyDeleteNever knew that, interesting info. I always attributed the seed concentration to the varietal or level of maturity. I will now start looking for the markings now.
ReplyDeletevidya - i found it out a few years ago & thought it was a neat trick; not sure if i REALLY believe it or not! like you say, it probably does have a lot to do with each cultivar and how old the eggplant is when picked.
ReplyDelete