Baba Ganouch

I’m Addicted. I again bought eggplants at the Farmer’s Market (Again over-buying), this time with the intention of making Baba Ganouch.

I love the way it feels to say that word:
Baba Ganouch. Baba Ganouch. Baba Ganouch.

I believe it hails from the Mideast in the area of Syria and Turkey – and the ingredients certainly back it up: eggplant, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, seasonings …

I love eggplant, and yet I’ve never made Baba Ganouch. It also would not have occurred to me to char the eggplants first, until I read David Liebovitz’s method. (Though it being nearly 90 degrees here, I cheated and used the microwave to finish cooking the eggplant). I had bought Sicilian eggplants and these looked as though they had been grown white, and the farmer later ran out in the dead of night and painted it aubergine.

I also used cilantro and not parsley because I adore cilantro and am not too fond of parsley.

Yum!

On a related note, I’ve had a recipe cut out from Martha Stewart Living magazine on my fridge forever (months, anyway) for parchment bread (It’s more cracker than bread), which looked too simple to be real, but if it worked, would be perfect for the Baba Ganouch.

Baba Ganouch. Baba Ganouch. Baba Ganouch.

It really is incredibly easy – if you have a pasta machine and a pizza stone. I expect it’s more difficult if you need to roll it out by hand. Fabulous! I am absolutely, 100% making this again.