Is it awkward to use the word "aubergine" instead of "eggplant"?

Solution 1:

Aubergine is the British word (originally, I think, from French, but there's no percentage in guessing exactly how), and many British cooks literally would not know what eggplant is. In North America, as others have said, it's the other way about.

Interestingly, there is another vegetable with the same identity problem; what the British call courgettes and the Americans zucchini.

Solution 2:

In the United States, the word aubergine refers almost exclusively to the color (and almost never to the plant), while in British English, aubergine refers to both the plant and the color.

It's worth noting that aubergine is the French word for eggplant. As is the case with many French loanwords, using aubergine over eggplant will likely convey a more poetic tone, although you may send some American readers running for a dictionary.