Forget about the avocado, it’s all about aubergine now – on our plates, around our homes and even in our wardrobes...

Words: Kate Wills

Across the pond it’s an eggplant, because early a settlers to the New World only saw the small, white, oval variety. If you’re from South Africa you’ll call it a brinjal. Lovers of Italian food will recognise it as melanzana, deriving from “mela insana” – mad apple – because too much aubergine was once believed to cause insanity. (And to be fair, we have been known to lose our minds over a good parmigiana.) Whatever you call it, the aubergine is everywhere in every form.

Since it made its debut as an emoji in 2011, the power of this suggestively shaped purple nightshade (which is botanically classed as a berry because of its seeds, fact fans) has continued to rise and rise. It’s now so popular that when Instagram tried to ban the aubergine emoji last year (perhaps because of its outrageously phallic connotations), users were so incensed they created the hashtag #freetheeggplant (proudly displaying allegiance in the manner of the #freethenipple campaign). In March, UK-based PR director Jack Kenyon set up the website eggplantmail.com, offering to post people a personalised real aubergine for £6.99. Within days he was so inundated with orders he couldn’t possibly keep up.

But it’s not just the digital sphere that’s overrun with the fruit. “Aubergine has taken over from the avocado as the new superfood on the block,” says nutritionist Frida Harju. “It is rich in potassium, magnesium and vitamins K and C. Its skin contains nasunin, which has anti-ageing properties. I think it’s so popular right now because Mediterranean diets have been found to prolong life and help fight disease, and aubergines are seen throughout Mediterranean cuisine.”

But unlike the avo, the rich purple sheen of the aubergine is extending this trend beyond our plates and into our homes and wardrobes. It started last year when Pantone unveiled an aubergine-esque shade called Marsala as its shade of the year. “A deep purple like aubergine commands confidence, balance and stability,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “In times of cold weather or uncertainty people are drawn to darker colours.” Especially in times of political upheaval it would seem: Theresa May wore an aubergine Escada dress (and matching kitten heels, of course) for her first Conservative Party Conference speech as PM earlier this month.

On top of that, aubergine is now also a cultural buzzword. Julia Cho’s new play Aubergine, about a Korean-American chef coming to terms with the death of his father, recently opened on Broadway with the titular fruit functioning as a symbol for family, memory and the power of food to unlock a stew of emotions.

So whether you find yourself sipping an aubergine sour, perfecting a purple pout or painting your walls Brinjal, here are the top ways to incorporate the big A into your life...

Aubergine is the new black: from lips to chips, the eggplant is having a cultural moment right now