Baba Ganoush

There’s a colorful story behind the name baba ganoush, but from a cook’s point of view, the most important thing to know about the dish is that it’s often called “burnt eggplant dip.” (If you want to get baba ganoush fever, read our full story.)

You can get the dish’s requisite smoky flavor by broiling whole eggplants until they’re charred all over — or, even better, setting them directly on hot coals outside on a charcoal grill. After that, a simple formula gets you there: roasted eggplant + tahini + lemon + salt + garnishes. Garlic is optional, but we never skip it. Cumin is also optional, and we skip it more often than not — just because the simplicity of the basic thing is so delightful. When we’re in a cumin-y mood, though, we enjoy its addition — especially when we toast cumin seeds and grind them in a mortar.

We experimented with myriad recipes — probably learning the most from Claudia Roden, author of The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, Arabesque (and other wonderful cookbooks) along the way — until we came up with this one we love. Feel free to add more garlic (or leave it out) or more or less tahini or lemon juice. Baba ganoush is very personal. But do try it this way: We think you’ll love it.

Charring the eggplant over live coals results in baba ganoush with deeper, smokier flavor, and for some reason a creamier texture. But don’t worry if you can’t manage to fire up an outdoor grill; broiling the eggplant results in a pretty great dip as well. When shopping, look for small-to-medium eggplants (larger ones can be more bitter). Choose eggplants that are somewhat firm (but not too hard) all over, with no very soft or mushy zones.

Serve the baba ganoush with warm pita bread for scooping it up.

Serves 4 to 6, or more, when it’s part of a larger mezze spread.

Ingredients

4 small, 3 medium or 2 large eggplants, about 2 1/2 pounds total (or slightly more or less)

3 tablespoons tahini

Juice of 2 lemons (about 2 1/2 ounces)