a few years ago in Cyprus while eating a great big meze, one of the dips was aubergine and really really tasty. I was shocked at how good it was considering how bland the basic aubergine is and kept it in the back of my mind to look into it.
Today while out shopping and routing about in the houmous and such section I spotted "baba ganoush" and thought I'm sure Kavey mentioned that, so had a look.
It is indeed an aubergine dip, I'm just hoping its the same/similar stuff to what I had in Cyprus...
might take it for lunch tomorrow at work
fingers crossed
Steve
Had it today, nice but not quite the same (maybe its being shop bought thats done it).. seemed very tangy (lemon juice and live yoghurt) with not enough umph !...
Looks like I'm going to have to make my own when I decide what should be in it.
Steve
We had some nice one last month in Oman, it was good. It was served as part of a huge buffet breakfast.
Is this what I would call 'poor man's caviar?' If so it could be the tahini paste that is missing??
Winton
It had the tahini in it, just seemed to be lacking something...
http://postimage.org/image/e5m40cx0/
Steve
The one we had was not totally smooth, you could taste the flesh of aubergines and it was delicately flavoured.
Intrigued by the name and loving all the ingredients I thought I would have a bash at Baba Ghanoush this evening. I should make clear I can make no claim to authenticity as I have never tasted it in any of its 'native countries' but what I ended up with was very tasty.
I made aubergine caviar then 'baba ghanoushed' it with tahini, pinch of ground cumin and a splash of tabasco.
I then added yoghurt teaspoon by teaspoon just to mellow it a little. (Perhaps Steve the supermarket version had been 'bulked out' with too much yoghurt as the cheapest ingredient?)
I'll certainly make it again perhaps next time roasting the garlic as it did seem rather harsh (well it was raw!)
I just love aubergines in any shape or form! Your concoction sounds delicious Winton.
Winton, yes supermarket probably bulked out and cut a lot of corners for mass production...
I'll bet yours was far better !
Steve
Baba Gannoush doesn't normally have yoghurt in it at all. It has eggplant (AKA aubergine to you folks in the UK), tahini, lemon juice, garlic and parsley, salt and pepper and perhaps a little olive oil. I make it by taste - once I have cooked and finely chopped the eggplant flesh I add tahini and lemon juice until I like the taste.
To me the most important thing is to get the eggplant really soft with a slightly smoked flavour. I do this by putting a couple of slits in the whole eggplant and then roasting it directly on a gas burner. The skin burns but you discard that anyway. If you are worried about it setting off a fire alarm you can transfer it to the oven once the outside is a bit charred.
As far as roasting is concerned, I agree totally. Roasted aubergine has miles better lavour that boiled one. I roast mine on a roasting plate placed on top of the fire. This not only make the roasting easier, it also prevents a mess on the cooker. See pictures on this recipe. Click to enlarge pictures; http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/image_display.php?recipe_id=10323&index=1
I adore baba ganoush but the aubergines really have to be roasted good and well to bring out the smoky flavour that's so key.
A food blogger friend makes fantastic stuff, which I've tasted. Here are two posts from her about it:
http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/06/a-whole-lamb-cooked-in-a-pit/
http://helengraves.co.uk/2010/09/new-baba-ganoush-recipe/
(read the first one first, scroll down to the second half of the post)
Thanks for that Kavey, looks like a winner !... will have to find small aubergines now... at least I've an idea of what is needed (think I might use more garlic and tahini as I love them...)
Steve
I just tried to post a message saying sorry, obviously other people do put yoghurt in baba gannoush, and giving a link to a recipe without yoghurt which is exactly how I make it, and so delicious that even people who think they don't like eggplant will eat it. I got shunted to the spam locker!
Serves me right for not putting yoghurt in my baba gannoush I guess. BUT can I just add that I originally learned to make it from Claudia Roden's book on Middle Eastern food and she certainly does not include yoghurt.
Hi Heather.
While searching around is soon became apparent that Baba Ghanosh has so many different versions from many different countries.
Many countries would not dream of adding yoghurt while some do. My compromise was to make it completely dairy free but then to add a few teaspoons of yoghurt at the very end (very much optionally) if it needed 'mellowing' a little to personal taste.
I had some last night as a sauce with some lamb steaks, big bowl of tabbouleh and chickpea and chorizo stew all courtesy of Rick Stein's recipes. Yum yum!
Winton
I'm going to have a go at this shortly (not sure when to be honest) but have a few questions.
My oven is electric so I can't put them direct on the gas, will I still get a smokey flavour from the electric grill ?
Once made how long does it last ?
Should it always be eaten cold or can you have it hot (I'm thinking it would work well in wraps and things with crunchy salad and veg)?
is there a story to it ie what is it traditionally used for, who makes it why etc ?
Thanks
Steve
Ps there are already several 'tweeks' bouncing around in my head... lol
Not sure but can I suggest also asking some of these questions directly on Helen's blog? She's very helpful and might be able to help with some/ all of them.
And there is a reply already!
By the way, check out the rest of her blog.
She is one THE BEST food bloggers around, especially for cooking/ recipes.
Really very good indeed.
Well I've looked at the answers, I've looked at the history and I've looked at several recipes... ignored it all and made my own !
Didn't put yoghurt or lemon juice in there (this may affect how long it will last, but that isn't going to be a problem !)
Has come out very well, compared to the shop bought (rubbish) version its about 100x more flavour !
Thanks for all the input
Steve
Just realised my previous post comes across as rather harsh/arrogant.. wasn't meant to sound or be like that.. I've not followed the recipes, only taken ideas, hints and tips from them is what I meant rather than ignored !... The recipes were very helpful to point me in the right directions..
It made me think of the Maltese dish "bigilla" so I made something along those lines, tweeked with smoked paprika for the smokey flavour I couldn't get in the electric oven.
Steve
I made the BG, it was lovely. I can't do anything with the recipe right now, I am using a neighbours computer for a little time only.
It basically had one large, freshly roasted aubergine, pulp-mashed by hand, 2 tbs. light Tahini, salt, pepper, 1 green chilli, 1 handful of fresh coriander and a few chives, chives only because they grow next to coriander in my garden and were looking lovely. I did not add any yoghurt.