How to sex an eggplant

To tell the gender of...of course

Eggplants are a pretty common ingredient for me but what I learned this week will completely change how I buy them in the future.

A few days ago, I bought two eggplants and planned to make burnt eggplant tehina and baba-ganoush. When I cut open the eggplants though, I was surprised to find that there were hundreds of seeds inside. Not something you want when you’re going for a smooth, creamy texture!

What I learned is that eggplants can be either female or male and that there are major differences.

Male eggplants have less seeds and tend to be less bitter than female eggplants.

Luckily, you can easily tell the difference between male and female by looking at the flower end (opposite the green part).

Male eggplants have a dot. Female eggplants have a dash.

Pretty easy to remember if you ask me!