14/07/2026
Indoor packing last Wednesday due to the extreme heat!
Hello!
We are moving into the season of the nightshade family, the time for those sun loving vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and aubergines.
The beautiful aubergine arrived in Europe from Asia from the 14th century onwards, with written records of them first appearing in England in the 16th century. They were first admired as ornamentals and thought largely to be poisonous. Back then they were much more bitter, with high levels of alkaloids, the same compounds that can be dangerous or deadly in green potatoes or deadly nightshade. They were gradually bred to be less bitter, but even now many recipes still call for them to be salted, to draw out the bitterness. This is something you generally don’t need to do anymore.
There is a lot of variety in aubergine types around the world. When I spent time in Ghana years ago, I used to cook the little round white ones they have there, known as “garden eggs”. You can find all kinds of other varieties with different shapes, sizes and colours across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
I think aubergine is a great staple for vegetarian and vegan cooking. It brings an earthy “meaty” texture to the table that’s quite unique.
Don’t forget to return your re-usable Vegbox bags and packaging.
When you want to take a holiday from Vegbox, please let us know a week in advance!
Tom Steele
