The Eggplant’s Calyx

Didn’t I say to make my abilities average in the next life certainly introduced the most creative insult I’ve encountered in quite some time.

Which begs the questions:

1. What is a calyx, and
2. What’s so bad about an eggplant’s?

A calyx is the set of small petal-like flaps, called sepals, which cover a flower before it blooms (calyx means “bud” in Greek), and which can be found at the flower’s base after blooming.

Wikipedia has some special words for the eggplant in particular:

Eggplant flesh is smooth. Its numerous seeds are small, soft and edible, along with the rest of the fruit, and do not have to be removed. Its thin skin is also edible, and so it does not have to be peeled. However, the green part at the top, the calyx, does have to be removed when preparing an eggplant for cooking.

So yeah, the calyx is literally the only part of the eggplant that can’t be used for something when cooking. Basically, Mile yells at Reina that she’s the only member of their party of four that could be thrown away.

Ouch.