>
>Following this thread, one of the things that astonishes me
>is that the Chinese should have observed a relationship
>between an eggplant and a tomato.
>

Hi Bob:

Actually, so did everyone else. The two plants are remotely related
botanically. Most early European herbals listed tomatoes as a variety of
eggplants. The first "tomato" recipe (1541) says that they are "eaten in the
same manner as the eggplant," which were fried in oil with salt and pepper,
like mushrooms. This confusion/connection between the eggplant and the tomato
continued into the 20th century.

Andy Smith