Just a different name in the Asia pacific. Eggplant is called so, because a raw or young eggplant looks like an egg on a plant Eggplant is common name for brinjal in American countries. It is as known as ‘aubergine’ in some countries. In India, it is mostly referred as ‘ baingan’ in most parts of the country.
You could be thinking “What is the difference between eggplant and brinjal?”
My chosen answer is over time, ‘eggplant’ has become synonymous with specifically round or oval brinjals / aubergines of various sizes and colors. This term is usually used in North America. The long varieties of brinjal are not called eggplants probably because they are not usually found in North America and other places – only in India.
Why do we call it an eggplant?
The name of eggplant was given it by Europeans in the middle of the eighteenth century because the variety they knew had fruits that were the shape and size of goose eggs . That variety also had fruits that are a whitish or yellowish colour rather than the wine purple that is more familiar to us nowadays.
One source stated that even today, an eggplant is now called a brinjal in India. Why is eggplant also called aubergine? It is a fruit that has been cultivated for centuries under different names.
My best answer is Egg plant is called brinjal in British English. In the western Mediterranean, the term for eggplant, (al)-bāḏinjān became berenjena in Spanish and albergínia in Catalan.
Then, how did eggplant get its name?
Well, way back in the 1700s, early European versions of eggplant were smaller and yellow or white. They looked like goose or chicken eggs , which led to the name “eggplant.”.
This fruit (yes, it’s actually a fruit ) was given the name “eggplant” by Europeans in the early to mid 1700s. There are different types of eggplants. Some of them have a yellow-white color instead of the purple that is most commonly associated with eggplants; and have a more rounded shape, making them look vey similar to goose eggs.
Why is it called eggplant aubergine?
The Europeans started calling it egg-plant because they resembled goose eggs (they may have received the pale yellowish versions). But the British adopted the name ‘ Aubergine ‘, derived from the French or Catalan word for it, which itself was borrowed from the Arabic term ‘ al-badinjan’.
Moreover, why are eggplants called aubergines in the UK?
One frequent answer is, they’re actually called aubergines in the UK. The first ones that found their way to Europe were the ones with the white fruits. Later, the larger purple ones became more popular, but the name stuck. The name eggplant seems to date back to the British occupation of India , but as the plant moved to Europe it became better known as Aubergine.
What does eggplant taste like?
They looked like goose or chicken eggs, which led to the name “eggplant.” The eggplant has been around for a long, long time. It’s native to India and Southeast Asia. In fact, the first known written mention of eggplant comes from a Chinese book on agriculture written in 544. Raw eggplant has a bitter taste, somewhat like its seeds.