El calabacín queda muy bien con ajo, y la berenjena sabe mejor si la horneas despacio.

In Spanish, it is very common to use the definite article with foods, ingredients, and things in general when talking about them as a class or in a general sense.

So:

• el calabacín = courgette / zucchini, as a general food
• la berenjena = aubergine / eggplant, as a general food

English often drops the article in this kind of sentence, but Spanish usually keeps it.

Compare:

• Me gusta el chocolate = I like chocolate
• La cebolla combina bien con el tomate = Onion goes well with tomato

So El calabacín queda muy bien... does not mean one specific courgette; it means courgette in general.

Here quedar bien con means something like:

• to go well with
• to pair well with
• to work well with

So:

• El calabacín queda muy bien con ajo = Courgette/zucchini goes very well with garlic

This is a very natural Spanish way to talk about food combinations, clothes, colors, and appearance.

Examples:

• El pescado queda bien con limón = Fish goes well with lemon
• Ese color te queda muy bien = That color suits you very well

In this sentence, quedar is not about physically remaining somewhere. It is about the result or how something works in combination with something else.

Because the subject is singular: el calabacín.

So the verb must agree with it:

• El calabacín queda
• Los calabacines quedan

Likewise:

• La berenjena sabe mejor
• Las berenjenas saben mejor

The verb form always matches the grammatical subject.

Yes, saber usually means to know, but it also has another meaning: to taste of / to taste like.

In food contexts:

• saber bien = to taste good
• saber mal = to taste bad
• saber a ajo = to taste of garlic
• saber mejor = to taste better

So in this sentence:

• la berenjena sabe mejor = aubergine/eggplant tastes better

This is a very common source of confusion for learners because saber has two different meanings depending on context.

Because mejor is the comparative form of bien in this type of expression.

With taste and quality, Spanish uses:

• bueno/bien → mejor
• malo/mal → peor

So:

• sabe bien = it tastes good / well
• sabe mejor = it tastes better

Más bien is a different expression. It usually means something like:

• rather
• more accurately
• quite

Examples:

• Es más bien difícil = It is rather difficult
• No está enfadado; está más bien cansado = He is not angry; he is rather tired

So sabe mejor is the correct form here.

It means if you bake/roast it.

Breakdown:

• si = if
• la = it
• horneas = you bake / you roast

So:

• si la horneas despacio = if you bake/roast it slowly

The pronoun la refers back to la berenjena, which is feminine singular.

This is very typical in Spanish: once the noun has been mentioned, a direct object pronoun is used instead of repeating it.

Compare:

• La berenjena sabe mejor si horneas la berenjena despacio = grammatical, but repetitive
• La berenjena sabe mejor si la horneas despacio = natural

Because berenjena is a feminine singular noun, and here it is the direct object of hornear.

So the direct object pronoun must be feminine singular too:

• la berenjena → la

Examples:

• Compro la berenjena → La compro
• Horneas la berenjena → La horneas

If it were masculine:

• el calabacín → lo
• Lo horneas

If it were plural:

• las berenjenas → las
• los calabacines → los

Not necessarily. Spanish often uses the tú form to mean you in general, especially in everyday language, recipes, cooking advice, and informal explanations.

So si la horneas despacio can mean:

• if you bake it slowly
• if one bakes it slowly
• if you cook it slowly

It is not always addressed to one specific person. It can be a general statement.

Other common possibilities would be:

• si se hornea despacio = if it is baked slowly / if one bakes it slowly
• si la horneamos despacio = if we bake it slowly

But the tú form sounds very natural and conversational.

Yes. In food contexts, hornear literally means to cook in the oven, so depending on the food and on the English variety, you might translate it as:

• to bake
• to roast

For vegetables like aubergine/eggplant, English speakers might well say roast it slowly.

So si la horneas despacio could naturally be understood as:

• if you bake it slowly
• if you roast it slowly

The key idea is oven cooking.

Both can mean slowly, but despacio is usually more common and natural in everyday speech.

• despacio = slowly, at a slow pace
• lentamente = slowly, but often a bit more formal or descriptive

In cooking advice, despacio sounds very natural:

• Cocínalo despacio
• Hazlo despacio

So si la horneas despacio is a very normal way to say if you bake/roast it slowly.

Because when Spanish talks about ingredients or substances in a general, non-counted way, it often leaves out the article.

So:

• con ajo = with garlic
• con cebolla = with onion
• con aceite = with oil

This is similar to English, which also usually says with garlic, not with the garlic, unless you mean specific garlic already mentioned.

If you wanted to refer to specific garlic, you could use an article, but in a sentence like this, con ajo is the natural generic form.

Yes. Spanish often uses the present tense for general facts, typical behavior, and cooking advice.

So:

• El calabacín queda muy bien con ajo
• La berenjena sabe mejor si la horneas despacio

are not describing just one meal right now. They express general truths or general opinions about food.

English does the same thing:

• Zucchini goes well with garlic.
• Eggplant tastes better if you roast it slowly.

So the present tense here is completely natural.

Yes. In Spain, these are the standard everyday words:

• calabacín = zucchini / courgette
• berenjena = eggplant / aubergine

A learner whose first English variety is British English may notice that:

• calabacín corresponds to courgette
• berenjena corresponds to aubergine

A learner using American English will probably think of:

• zucchini
• eggplant

So the Spanish is standard; only the English equivalent changes depending on the variety of English.