Пусть баклажан и выглядит странно, на вкус он мягкий и приятный.

In this sentence, пусть does not mean let in the usual imperative sense.

Here it introduces a concession, meaning something like:

• even if
• though
• granted that

So Пусть баклажан и выглядит странно... means roughly:

• Even if the eggplant looks strange...
• Though the eggplant may look strange...

This is a common Russian pattern:

• Пусть X, Y = Even if X, Y
• Пусть он и молод, но опытен. = Even though he is young, he is experienced.

So here пусть is more like admittedly / granted / even though than let.

That и is not the normal and.

In this structure, пусть ... и ... is a common concessive pattern. It adds emphasis, something like:

• even if indeed
• granted that
• may well

So:

• Пусть баклажан и выглядит странно...

feels stronger and more idiomatic than just:

• Пусть баклажан выглядит странно...

The и highlights the fact being conceded:

• Yes, it does look strange, but...

You can think of the whole pattern пусть ... и ... as a set expression.

Выглядит is from выглядеть, which means to look / to appear.

So:

• баклажан выглядит странно = the eggplant looks strange

This is about appearance, not action. The sentence is contrasting:

• how it looks: странно
• how it tastes: мягкий и приятный

So the structure is basically:

• It may look strange, but in taste it is mild and pleasant.

Because Russian normally uses the imperfective here for a general present-time description.

Выглядеть is the standard verb for to look / appear in this kind of statement:

• Он хорошо выглядит. = He looks good.
• Это странно выглядит. = This looks strange.

A perfective verb would not fit this neutral descriptive present meaning.

So выглядит is simply the normal form for:

• a current appearance
• a general observation
• a description rather than a completed event

Literally, на вкус means something like in taste / as to taste.

Idiomatic English translations include:

• in taste
• to the taste
• when you taste it
• more naturally: it tastes...

So:

• на вкус он мягкий и приятный

means:

• it is mild and pleasant in taste
• more natural English: it tastes mild and pleasant

This is a fixed Russian expression used to talk about flavor.

Compare:

• На вкус это сладкое. = It tastes sweet.
• На вкус он горький. = It tastes bitter.

Russian often can omit pronouns, but here он sounds natural and helpful.

The sentence has two parts:

1. Пусть баклажан и выглядит странно
2. на вкус он мягкий и приятный

Using он makes the second clause clear and balanced:

• As for taste, it is mild and pleasant.

Without он, the sentence would feel less complete:

• Пусть баклажан и выглядит странно, на вкус мягкий и приятный.

That is understandable, but less natural here. The pronoun neatly picks up баклажан after the concessive opening.

Because they agree with он, which refers to баклажан.

Баклажан is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative here

So the adjectives must also be:

• masculine singular nominative

That gives:

• мягкий
• приятный

If the noun were feminine, you would need feminine forms:

• Она мягкая и приятная.

If it were plural:

• Они мягкие и приятные.

Not necessarily only physically. In food contexts, мягкий can mean:

• soft in texture
• mild in flavor
• not harsh / gentle

Here, because of на вкус, it is mainly about the eating experience, so English would often translate it as:

• mild
• soft
• delicate

Depending on context, мягкий и приятный suggests that the taste is not strong or aggressive, and is agreeable.

So soft and pleasant is possible, but mild and pleasant may sound more natural in English.

Because it goes with the verb выглядит.

Russian often uses an adverb with выглядеть:

• Он выглядит странно. = He looks strange.
• Это выглядит нелепо. = This looks ridiculous.

So:

• странно describes how it looks

If you used странный, that would usually directly describe a noun:

• странный баклажан = a strange eggplant

But here the idea is:

• the eggplant looks strangely / looks strange not
• the strange eggplant...

That is why странно is correct.

Yes, a sentence with хотя would be possible:

• Хотя баклажан выглядит странно, на вкус он мягкий и приятный.

That means:

• Although the eggplant looks strange, it tastes mild and pleasant.

The difference is mainly in nuance:

• хотя = straightforward although
• пусть ... и ... = more like granted that / even though admittedly

So the original sounds a bit more concessive and stylistically expressive:

• Yes, it may look strange, but...

Both are correct, but пусть ... и ... has a stronger feeling of conceding a point before making the main statement.

Yes, the word order helps the sentence sound natural and expressive.

The sentence begins with the concessive clause:

• Пусть баклажан и выглядит странно...

This sets up a contrast:

• appearance first
• taste second

Then the main point comes after the comma:

• на вкус он мягкий и приятный

Russian word order is flexible, but this arrangement is effective because it mirrors the logic:

1. Even if it looks strange...
2. ...it actually tastes mild and pleasant.

So the order is not random; it is chosen to emphasize contrast.

Yes. Russian often likes this kind of contrastive structure:

• пусть / хотя ... , ...
• one clause gives a concession
• the second clause gives the more important conclusion

This is especially common in descriptive or persuasive language.

The sentence sounds fairly natural and a bit polished, because it does more than just state facts. It says:

• appearance may be one thing,
• but reality is different.

That kind of contrast is very typical in Russian.