Mediterranean Cooking from the Garden with Linda Dalal Sawaya: Eggplant—baba ghannouj and beyond!

posted on: Sep 30, 2015

organic eggplants © linda dalal sawaya 2015

The Mediterranean Diet is praised as one of the most healthy on the planet, in part because vegetables are a primary component of this regional fare. The temperate Mediterranean climate produces an amazing array of produce that thrive in this area. Eggplants originated in South East Asia, and made their way into the Mediterranean diet long ago allowing for the creation of fabulous dishes from Spain and Italy across the Eastern Mediterranean into Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, and West across North Africa—each area producing recipes unique to their own terroir, seasonings, and styles. Since my parents and grandparents immigrated from Lebanon, those are the recipes I am most familiar with and cherish. Eggplant is one of the vegetables that have an esteemed role in Lebanese cuisine.

Shiny, deep purple eggplants come in various sizes and shapes: elongated, bulbous, large and small; each one has its signature Arabic dish tailored to its shape. Eggplants are stuffed in many ways; they are fried, sautéed, baked, grilled, stewed, pickled, and are excellent accompanied by tomatoes and garlic. There are many classic Lebanese eggplant (batanjan) dishes such as baba ghannouj, sheikh al mihshi, masbahit el darwish, makdous, batanjan miqli, batanjan mihshi, and mtabbal. And  there are other amazing ways to enjoy this succulent, meaty summer vegetable such as in fatteh, or broiled and dressed with dibis rimman and tahini and garnished with pomegranate seeds. The possibilities seem to be endless.

Let’s start with my favorite: Baba ghannouj!

baba ghannouj garnished with pomegranate © linda dalal sawaya 2015

Baba ghannouj—the fabulous Lebanese eggplant dip can be sublime or it can be dull. To make it sublime, there is a secret which is, of course, shared in my family cookbook, Alice’s Kitchen: Traditional Lebanese Cooking.

Here’s the secret for fool-proof-to-live-for baba ghannouj! People who have tasted our recipe swear it is the best they have ever eaten—even uttered from the mouths of those who profess a dislike of eggplant. This version has a smokiness and a garlic base that sings in your mouth!

First, we begin with one or two big, firm, and beautiful in-season eggplants; but wait till you see what we do to them!

organic eggplants © linda dalal sawaya 2015

If you have a gas stove, like I do and like mama did, the best way is to put the eggplant directly on the flame for about 15 minutes on each side and  gently turn it so as not to pierce the skin and release the juices by using two wooden spoons to hold the ends of the eggplant. Three turns will char the entire eggplant and it will look like this when done and placed on a wooden cutting board to cool.

grilling eggplants for baba ghannouj © linda dalal sawaya 2015

If you are not fortunate to be cooking with gas or real fire, you can broil the whole eggplant, or better yet, put it on the grill, which will achieve the same smoky result.

The next step is to butterfly or filet it like this when it has cooled enough to handle.

filet cutting the grilled eggplant © linda dalal sawaya 2015

Carefully open it up so it looks like this. When it has cooled, carefully scoop out the tender eggplant with a spoon, leaving the charred shell and any bits of burned skin behind.

scooping out the eggplant pulp © linda dalal sawaya 2015

Transfer it directly into a bowl of the food processor that already has garlic and sea salt pulsed and minced in it. Pulse the eggplant well with the garlic and sea salt.

food processing garlic and eggplant pulp for baba ghannouj © linda dalal sawaya 2015

Next add fresh squeezed lemon juice and tahini (sesame seed puree) and pulse.

The last touch is to add a bit of dried spearmint; this addition came from fellow Doumanians, the Haddads, and is not something mama did, but has become my preference. Mix, taste, and adjust seasoning, adding more lemon, salt, or tahini. The Haddads sometimes add a bit of yogurt to theirs, and I’ve only done this when i needed to stretch my recipe for unexpected guests; my preference is without the laban.

Spread on a lovely serving dish, garnish with dried and fresh spearmint and a drizzle of olive oil! voila!—the best baba ghannouj you’ve ever had!

baba ghannouj garnished with dried mint (na’na) and zeit © linda dalal sawaya 2015

When I was growing up, mama didn’t have a food processor and made this the traditional way, by pounding and pulverizing first, the salt and garlic, and then the eggplant. She of course made hommous by hand, too, from dried chick peas!

An alternate version to baba ghannouj without the tahini, is called batinjan mtabbal. In Lebanon, it is garnished with pomegranate seeds, giving it a colorful, tart edge.

Sheikh al Mihshi—the name translates to the Sheik of Stuffed Dishes, which says it all! This is a luscious, elegant creation stuffed with sautéed lamb, pine nuts, and onions with tomato baked and served over rice (riz mfalfal). When mama made this when I was growing up, I thought it was such a complicated and difficult dish to make, however, now I find it easy and well worth the moderate effort! Begin with Italian, Japanese, Arabic elongated narrow eggplants if possible. If not available, quarter a larger eggplant and proceed first with peeling the eggplant, salt and peppering them in a colander for about 15 minutes. Towel dry them, place into a baking dish, and baste with melted samne (clarified butter). Broil them  for about 5 minutes on each side and allow to cool. Meanwhile, sauté the lamb with samne, onions,  snobar (pine nuts), and seasonings; set the filling aside. Gently slice an opening into the central length of eggplants and fill with a couple tablespoons of filling.

eggplants stuffed with lamb and snobar in sheikh al mihshi © linda dalal sawaya 2015

Cover the stuffed eggplants with tomatoes, seasonings, and lemon juice before baking about one hour in a 350 degree oven. Serve over riz m’falfal with fresh carrot sticks and cucumber spears.

Another way to stuff eggplant is a vegetarian/vegan mihshi, which I was blessed to taste in Lebanon filled with a similar filling to kousa mihshi siyeme with rice, parsley, mint, onions, garbanzo beans, and tomatoes.

On my most recent trip to Lebanon last fall, I discovered a great Beirut Hamra district restaurant popular with the AUB crowd called Ta Marbouta, where I tasted yalangi, another vegan version of stuffed eggplant that was divine! Also shown is their famous batata harra, and fattoush! A memorable meal to be sure!

Sahtein!

yalangi, batata harra, and fattoush at T Marbouta in Beirut © linda dalal sawaya 2015