[nctomatoman]

Here's my take on eggplant - there are those that taste like eggplant (the vast majority), and those that are quite bitter and I tend to avoid. Unlike tomatoes, of course, eggplant are more like sweet peppers - but even less like tomatoes! With sweet peppers you get varying levels of sweetness at the red/gold/whatever color ripe stage, but when green, they pretty much taste...well, green! With eggplant, we've found textural differences more than anything else...and fresh picked, home grown eggplant are infinitely better than store bought (they aren't unappealingly bitter and corky, which is what happens with storage).

So with eggplant, to my mind, best to focus on those whose shape and color you like, and which yield well. I like New York Improved, Prosperosa, Listada di Gandia and Green Giant for the big round ones that we turn into eggplant parmesan or grill. The more elongated ones (from fairly thick to really slender) tend to yield much better, and we either grill them whole or split, or chunk them for our ratatouille (our favorite use for eggplant, aside from sliced/breaded/baked and parmesaned!). For the slender ones, Lavendar Touch, Neon, Rosita, to the really slender ones like Ichiban, Orient Charm, Orient Express, Machiaw - all grow and yield well for us. Interestingly, we note that the ones with darkest skin (esp the slender ones) have flesh that tends to pale green, while the white and lavendar skinned ones have more snow white flesh. No difference in flavor.

Eggplant are so easy to grow and do so well in pots (as long as you do something about flea beetles)....and even in the case of hybrids, easy to save seed from. And since flavor varies so little, growing from hybrid - saved seeds adds a bit of mystery to your garden, since you can get some interesting color variations (mom, dad, and cousins)!