Serious Eats: Recipes
Grilling: Baba Ghanoush
[Photographs: Joshua Bousel]
Welcome to the roller coaster ride that is Baba Ghanoush. For each thrilling high of a fantastic experience with this smokey Middle Eastern dip, I experience a equal low, often leaving me questioning why I like it at all. Unfortunately, my home experience has been made up of almost entirely lows—until this most recent stab at it.
With only five main ingredients, I assumed that ingredient quality would make all the difference, but something was always off. With many tries, I used a process of elimination to get to the bottom of my troubles:
- Eggplant grilled until soft and smoky, not too bitter: check
- Fresh lemons and garlic: check
- Good quality olive oil: check
That left only the tahini, which I've tried a few brands with little to no success. So this last time I took matters into my own hands: I lightly toasted a cup of sesame seeds and then took them for a whirl in the food processor with some olive oil until they became thick, yet pourable fresh tahini. Result: delicious.
This was the Baba Ghanoush high that drives me to take the ride again. Each ingredient combined to make a luscious, smoky dip that reigns high on my list of all-time favorites.
Baba Ghanoush
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