There is certainly no ambiguity in the Baghdad cookery book (the Kitab al-tabikh, 1226) about the
use of eggplants and no doubt at all that the sort discussed had dark
black skin (there are directions for removing it). The book also makes
ample reference to fava beans, cardoons, rhubarb, leeks, the ridged
cucumber (Armenian snake melon), carrots, gourds, taro, cultivated purslane,
turnips, sweet fennel, and spinach. There are also references to a form
of cabbage commonly translated into English as cauliflower.