“Eggplant babies!” There’s a magical recipe which is meant to induce labour
Hundreds and hundreds of baby photos adorn the walls of Scalini’s Italian restaurant in the US state of Georgia.
Eggplant babies
These are the so-called ‘eggplant babies’ born after their mums tucked into the eatery’s popular Eggplant Parmigiana.
The story goes that the delicious-sounding Italian dish can induce full-term mums’ labour within around 48 hours.
“Two or three years after we began, a few people had just mentioned to us they came in when they were pregnant, and ate this eggplant and had a baby a short time after that,” restaurant owner John Bogino explains on the business’s website (which has a whole section devoted to these bubs!)
John says the popular dish became a bit of a labour legend pretty quickly.
“One person told another, and it just grew by itself by leaps and bounds.”
“You must be here for the eggplant!”
Parents are keen to share their family’s eggplant experience detailing how the dish led to newborns, sometimes in a matter of hours.
“Made the eggplant parmigiana late night April 10th, and I went into labor at 8 am the next morning! She was born at 7:37 pm on April 11th, 2010. This recipe works!!!” one mum wrote in a testimony.
“Baby Lachlan was born 8 days early … 24 hours after I cooked your eggplant parmigiana for my wife, and it worked! Thanks for the great recipe!” another dad shared.
“I was 6 days overdue with our second child and miserable and desperate (our first was 10 days late!). So we all went out for dinner at Scalini’s the night of May 14th,” another mama revealed. “I didn’t even have to order. The waitress just looked at me and said, ‘you must be here for the eggplant’. I was in labour by 5 the next morning.”
“Best labour inducing food out there”
Even our own Turia Pitt turned to this famous eggplant to hurry her first child (she’s just announced her second pregnancy!) Hakavai along.
“At 40 weeks and two days, I saw my chiropractor and got my pelvis aligned. I swam a kilometre. I went to an acupuncturist,” Turias says. “I made an eggplant parmigiana (I used a recipe touted all over the internet as the best labour inducing food out there – google ‘Scalini’s eggplant parmigiana’ for the recipe.”
“Later, Mum and I were being silly on the couch, Michael was rolling his eyes at our shenanigans and out of nowhere, I did a massive fart and broke out in uncontrollable hysterical laughter. My waters broke too.”
It’s not the first time a particular dish has become legendary for bringing labour on. A particular salad – or dressing – at another US restaurant has a cult pregnant lady following too.
California’s Caioti Pizza Cafe’s infamous ‘Maternity Salad’ has been helping budge babies for over 25 years, and apparently, a couple of dozen women flock to the restaurant to eat it EVERY DAY. Including then-pregnant Hilary Duff!
The dressing features balsamic vinaigrette combined with basil, sun-dried tomato, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and a mix of secret spices. The eggplant parma also features some of these ingredients, so obviously, there is some kind of Italian spell going on!
To try the famous eggplant recipe for yourself, visit the website.