Planta Ovo

Whenever I tell a student that the word for "berinjela" is eggplant in American English, an expression of amused surprise invaribaly comes over their face. I have to explain then that I'm absolutely not kidding.

It is indeed quite comical to think of a vegetable (or a fruit, strictly speaking) as an egg.

The variety of eggplants that European traders first got in touch with in the Middle Ages were the shape and the size of chicken eggs. The name eggplant is therefore just a prosaic description.

Eggplants come in a number of different colors, including a yellowish variety and a whitish variety. The egg-like variety of that vegetable can also be found in Brazil, and (surprise surpise!) is referred to as "planta ovo".

I was inspired to write this post after I came across a "planta ovo" (also called "pé de ovo") at the MASP street market, in São Paulo today. I wish I had a camera (or better still, an iPhone!) handy. Here's a pic I found on the web:



I learned from the lady selling those that "planta ovo", though edible, is not normally cooked as it tastes pretty bland. It is more commonly used as ornament.

By the way, the word for eggplant is aubergine in British English.