(Solanum melongena)
Originating in India, eggplants began their culinary career as a thorny little plant, bearing very bitter fruit. Around 5,000 B.C. they began their dissemination into China, Africa, and the Mediterranean where careful selection and climatic change forced their bitterness to fade. Unheard of in North America until the early 1800’s, eggplants are genetically perennial plants, but are unable to survive even a light frost.