From Eggplant to Baba Ganoush With Love
August 1st 2008 01:59
You say tomato, I say tomatoe.
You say potato, I say potatoe.
You say aubergine. I get confused and blurt ‘Oh, you’re French?’
It’s that time of the year when eggplants are huge, and not just in popularity. Glossy, purple footballs of fibrous goodness pile up at the local grocer’s… and they’re cheap. But if you’re anything like me, you’re filing this article in the ‘too hard’ basket and tossing the eggplant out with the water because, let’s face it, it’s not the easiest veggie in the patch to deal with. Cook it incorrectly and it’s as bitter as a lover spurned. Spending hours salting it to leach out the tannin is about as exciting as watching cricket in rain. Or, in fact, cricket without rain. Dull.
Eggplant is a great source of dietary fibre, potassium and potassium’s cousins thiamine, manganese and copper. What does that mean? It’s good for you. Eat it. But eggplant has also been the focus of research on so-called ‘brain food’ and contains a antioxidant called nasunin which has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage.
Now, the Turkish have known this all along and the result was none other than the chargrilled wood-fired taste of Babaganoush. A simple recipe and an even simpler way to benefit from all the goodness eggplant has to offer.
All you need is:
1 large eggplant (400-500 grams)
4 dessert spoons of tahini
3 cloves of garlic
Handful of flat leaf parsley (or try coriander for a Thai variation)
Roast the eggplant for 40 minutes at 180 degrees. Chuck in the garlic cloves ten minutes before time’s up. Peel the chargrilled skin off the eggplant and throw it in a blender with the garlic, tahini and parsley. Blend until smooth.
It’s that easy. Serve with biscuits or warm Turkish bread. Believe me, it’s at least 200% better than the store bought version…
You say potato, I say potatoe.
You say aubergine. I get confused and blurt ‘Oh, you’re French?’
It’s that time of the year when eggplants are huge, and not just in popularity. Glossy, purple footballs of fibrous goodness pile up at the local grocer’s… and they’re cheap. But if you’re anything like me, you’re filing this article in the ‘too hard’ basket and tossing the eggplant out with the water because, let’s face it, it’s not the easiest veggie in the patch to deal with. Cook it incorrectly and it’s as bitter as a lover spurned. Spending hours salting it to leach out the tannin is about as exciting as watching cricket in rain. Or, in fact, cricket without rain. Dull.
Eggplant is a great source of dietary fibre, potassium and potassium’s cousins thiamine, manganese and copper. What does that mean? It’s good for you. Eat it. But eggplant has also been the focus of research on so-called ‘brain food’ and contains a antioxidant called nasunin which has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage.
Now, the Turkish have known this all along and the result was none other than the chargrilled wood-fired taste of Babaganoush. A simple recipe and an even simpler way to benefit from all the goodness eggplant has to offer.
All you need is:
1 large eggplant (400-500 grams)
4 dessert spoons of tahini
3 cloves of garlic
Handful of flat leaf parsley (or try coriander for a Thai variation)
Roast the eggplant for 40 minutes at 180 degrees. Chuck in the garlic cloves ten minutes before time’s up. Peel the chargrilled skin off the eggplant and throw it in a blender with the garlic, tahini and parsley. Blend until smooth.
It’s that easy. Serve with biscuits or warm Turkish bread. Believe me, it’s at least 200% better than the store bought version…
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