From recipes@swcp.com Mon Jul 22 14:44:13 2002 Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2002 13:42:14 +0000 (UTC) From: rfr Reader Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes Subject: Baba Ghanouj Followup-To: rec.food.cooking, rec.food.recipes Request: Baba Ganouj Baba Ghanouj 1 eggplant (about 1.25 lbs.) 1/4 cup of olive oil 1 clove of garlic, crushed 1/2 cup of lemon juice 1/4 cup of tahini 2 Tbsp of minced parsley Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and make several incisions in the flesh. Sprinkle the exposed meat with salt and let it drain for 30 minutes. Coat a baking pan with the olive oil and place the eggplant face-down in the pan. Bake it in an oven preheated to 400F for about 20 or 30 minutes, until tender. Remove the eggplant and let it cool. Then scoop out the pulp and place it in a food-processor or blender. Discard the skin. Place the garlic in the blender with the eggplant and puree. Add alternately the lemon juice and the tahini. Finally, blend in the parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper if desired. Chill before serving. Sprinkle with paprika to add a bit of color, if you like. Serve with raw vegetables and toasted pita triangles. Here are some very interesting comments from a reader in Israel: For what it's worth, you are spelling it wrong, and therefore pronouncing it incorrectly too. The second word in the name of the dish is NOT a "G", but an Arabic consonant that does not exist in European languages, and which is usually transliterated as "GH", therefore "Baba Ghanouj". To pronounce this "GH" consonant you have to make a sort of gargle, so there has to be a little liquid in your oral cavity, just under the soft palate. While we are about it, I might comment also about the persistent misspelling "Tahini". The final vowel is NOT an "I" of any sort, but a flat "A"; so flat in fact that it can arguably be represented by "EH". The "H" is also not an "H", but another Semitic gutteral that does not exist in European languages; made properly, it should sound like heavy breathing. Semitic languages, although poor in vowels, are very rich in consonants, seeing that their entire alphabets (22 or 28 characters, depending on the language) consist of nothing but. Additional, more culinary comment: "Scooping out" the baked eggplant is going to waste a lot of eggplant. You are FAR better off to prepare the eggplant by roasting it over a charcoal flame or to grill it, even to set it directly on a gas range. You have to turn it from time to time until all the skin becomes quite black and wrinkled, after which it peels very readily. -- Rec.food.recipes is moderated; only recipes and recipe requests are accepted for posting. Please send recipes, requests, questions or comments to Moderator Patricia Hill at recipes@swcp.com Please allow several days for your submission to appear.