What’sdelicioustoeatandcomesinavarietyofcolors?Eggplant!Andnoithasnothingtodowithchickens!Thisstrangelynamedvegetableishoweverasversatileasanegg．Itcanbesteamedfriedandbaked．Itcanbeeatenbyitselforcombinedwithmeatsandothervegetables．
EggplantwasfirstgrowninIndiainthe5thcenturyBC．ItspopularitysoonspreadtoChinaandthenthroughoutAsia．FinallyduringtheMiddleAgesthevegetablemadeitswaytoEurope．Atthattimeeggplantwasnottheshinypurplevegetablemostpeopleknowtoday．Insteadit’slikeawhiteegg．Duetothisegg-likeappearanceeggplantgotitsname．Initsearlydaysthevegetablewassobitterthatpeopleoftencalledita“madapple.”Thisnicknamestartedbecausepeoplebelieveditsbitternesswasbadforone'shealth．Peopleactuallythoughteggplantcouldcausemadnessandcancer．
Fortunatelytodaypeopleknowthateggplantdoesn'tcauseinsanityorcancer．Infacteggplantissohealthythatitmaypreventcancer．Inadditionthebrainandtheheartbenefitfromthissupervegetable．Sinceit'shighinfibreeggplantcanimprovedigestion．
ItalyTurkeyEgyptChinaandJapanaretheleadinggrowersofeggplantintheworldtoday．Dependingonitslocationeggplantmaybepurplegreenorangeoryellow-white．Anditcanbeassmallasatomatooraslargeasacucumber．Dishvarietiesrangefromsimpletocomplexwithallofthembeingdelicious．
TodaythousandsofpeoplegatherinLoomisCaliffortheannualLoomisEggplantFestival．Themainactivityatthefestivaliseatingdeliciouseggplantdishes．Thereisplentymoretodoandseethough．Recipecontestsartsandcraftsperformersracesandchildren'sactivitiesall“egg–cite”festival-goers．Mostpeopleatthefestivalwouldagree—eggplantisan“egg—cellent”vegetable．
小题1:Eggplantgotitsnamebecauseofits_____．