10.15.2006

Baba Gha-"No Thanks"

I thought I would like Baba Ghanoush. It's made from eggplant, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, parley, salt & pepper. The reason I thought I would like it is the tahini, which is made from sesame, which I love.
Turns out I don't like it. It's watery and bland and pretty much an excuse to eat a pita chip -- and who needs that? Maybe it's the brand (Blue Moose of Boulder), but I'm not seeing a heck of a lot of reasons to keep trying it.
Sorry, gods of multi-culturalism, but I'm not digging it.

5 comments:

voyagerinmo said...

Trust me, it's the brand. Real baba shouldn't be "watery"; it should have the consistency of a good chunky salsa ... like other things, it's often best made from scratch.

Anne C. said...

When I said "watery," I actually meant that it tasted like water (the way lettuce and cucumber do) rather than the consistency. Sorry, should have used a different word.

voyagerinmo said...

No problem ... even so, good baba shouldn't have that "watery cucumber-ish" taste, either, but come out more like a good hummus, except with eggplant rather than chickpeas.

I'm guessing that they didn't fully drain the eggplant, or used eggplant that was a bit overripe.

Here's a scratch baba recipe for you:

1. Take 2 eggplants. Char-grill them and let cool, then mash/shred with a fork.

You can also bake the eggplant, but some people insist that the "traditional" flavor comes from the smoky/grilling taste. Also, make sure that the eggplants, while cooling, also drain.

2. With the eggplant, blend in 2 garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of tahini,and juice from 2 lemons. If you want more garlic, add to taste.

3. (Optional) Just before serving, some people sprinkle a few drops of olive oil and a dash or two of ground cumin.

4. Let stand for at least a half hour, and serve with the pita bread.

Try that sometime, and let me know what you think ....

Anne C. said...

Thanks, voyager. I hadn't thought about the draining making it watery. I saw the Good Eats (Alton Brown! Squee!) episode on eggplant and that's what made me think of trying it in the first place. If I ever do decide to try it again, I'll try making it myself.

belsum said...

Interesting. I always thought my issue with baba depended on green (gross) versus black (tolerable) olives. But your brand didn't include them at all. Maybe it's a regional thing? I was mainly eating it in various locations in Syria.