Rosa Bianca

Rosa Bianca's fruit are rounded and only slightly elongated, narrow at the top and widening below into folds that look almost like draped fabric, colored white with streaks of lavender down the side. Grown as much for looks as for eating, the fruit have been described as softball-sized and spectacular in the garden. The flesh is custard-like and among the most delicately flavored of any eggplant, losing any hint of bitterness once fully roasted. One heirloom seed saver went so far as to call it the best eggplant he knew, citing its creamy consistency and delicate flavor.

The creamy-white flesh has a mild, almost mushroom-like flavor that suits stir-fries and traditional Italian preparations. Fruit are picked once they reach a substantial diameter and can then be cooked as any Italian eggplant would be.

Rosa Bianca is not a heavy yielder, but it shows more pest resistance and drought tolerance than many other cultivated eggplants. That drought tolerance has limits, though: plants still need consistently moist soil to produce fruit at their best. Getting a good stand can be finicky, since seed germinates best with alternating warm days near 80°F and cooler nights around 70°F, and northern growers in particular are advised to coddle young plants. Fruit should be picked while still young, since they turn seedy as they age on the plant.

Rosa Bianca is an old Italian heirloom eggplant, traditionally yielding medium-sized fruit and noted for being adapted to warm nights, reflecting its origins in a warmer growing climate.