With "aubergine caviar", all the flavours of the eastern Mediterranean awaken the taste buds. It is a cuisine that stands out, east to west, from Macedonia to Iraq, and north to south, from Romania to Egypt. More precisely, it covers the area once occupied by the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, which was halted before Vienna for the first time in 1529 and definitively in 1683 (this is when the croissant, that famous Viennese pastry, appeared: people eat the croissant, the emblem of the Turkish flag). At the centre of this area lay Constantinople, the future Istanbul of Atatürk (1930). The empire was dismantled after the Turkish-German defeat of 1914–18, leading to the creation of new states, among them Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.
Turkish cuisine is historically a cuisine of the steppes of Central Asia, of all those countries whose names end in "stan" (country), such as Turkmenistan, the land of the Turkmens.
And for five centuries, it has also been a Mediterranean cuisine.
Lebanese cuisine, one of the most refined in the Middle East, offers us aubergine caviar under the name of moutabal or "baba ganoush". It is one of the Lebanese "mezze" (around fifteen small dishes).
I phoned the people in charge of the website libanus.com, where I buy my Lebanese products, to find out a little more! "Baba ganoush" (pronounced "baba rran noush") means, for reasons nobody knows, "cute daddy". There are dozens of variations.
Here is the most classic one, approved by our Lebanese contacts.
Ingredients (serves 6 to 8)
3 or 4 large aubergines
5 cloves of garlic, crushed (reduced to a pulp)
2 teaspoons of salt
juice of 3 lemons
3 tablespoons of tahin or tahini (sesame paste, which can be found, for example, at MybioShop in Rocbaron or Super U).
1 pinch of pepper
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of plain Greek yoghurt (or a slightly tangy yoghurt)
For decoration:
fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 drizzle of olive oil
1. Light the barbecue!
In town, aubergines are cooked in the oven or directly over the burner of the gas hob! But, of course, nothing beats a wood fire. No charcoal: use small kindling, for a fire that will last about twenty minutes.
2. Using a fork, prick the aubergines all over.
3. Place them on the barbecue grill, directly over the flame (steppe-style cooking!). Only the skin will be blackened.
They are cooked when, using tongs (or the flat of a fork), you can feel the softness of a well-cooked vegetable.
Allow 15 to 20 minutes, turning them regularly.
4 - leave to rest for 15 minutes, covered, under a sheet of foil or a lid
15 minutes is the time needed for the smoky-charred flavour, typical of this dish, to infuse.
5. Scoop out the flesh with a tablespoon, taking care to remove the black shreds of burnt skin, then set the flesh aside in a skimmer.
6. Leave the flesh to drain for 10 minutes in a colander to reduce the bitterness.
7. In a salad bowl, beat the drained flesh with a fork, then with a whisk.
8. The two stages of seasoning
The basic seasoning consists of adding oil, salt, pepper, lemon and tahini, in basic amounts.
TAHINI! (or tahin)
Tahini may not yet be part of your eating habits. It can now be found everywhere in supermarkets, sold in jars containing a simple paste of sesame seeds. It binds the other ingredients together and adds its own distinctive flavour.
The quantities will be adjusted after 3 hours in the refrigerator.
9. First seasoning:
- add two crushed cloves of garlic (almost creamy)
- one teaspoon of salt
- the juice of two lemons
- 1 teaspoon of pepper (try peppercorns crushed in a mortar)
(I use black Kampot pepper, from Cambodia)
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of tahini.
Tahini: a paste made from ground sesame seeds. It can now be found in all organic shops or on the internet.
10. Whisk, whisk, whisk…
11. Remove the fibres from the whisk (the largest fibres stay in the whisk)
12. About ten seconds with the blender, but no more, will refine the mixture.
12. add 2 spoonfuls of plain Greek yoghurt (or a slightly tangy yoghurt)
13. Whisk again
14. Cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
15. Second stage of seasoning
Baba ganoush is a starter served cold, straight from the fridge! So it is at this temperature that the seasoning must be balanced. This concerns the amounts of garlic, lemon, salt and pepper.
It's up to you to choose the balance between these ingredients, without forgetting the tastes of your guests!
Most often, you will need to add lemon, garlic, salt and pepper.
16. Serve the dish in one or several bowls. A drizzle of olive oil. Not forgetting a tablespoon of chopped parsley (or lovage) and a few mint leaves.
AN EXTRAORDINARY FLAVOUR!
First you taste the lemon and the salt. Lemon and salt are the opening flavours. Then the mixture warms in the mouth and the garlic emerges, then the smoky taste comes through and finally that long, almost indelible and indescribable note of aubergine. Sublime!
Enjoy with a rosé, from Provence of course! Or a light Lebanese red, such as Côteau de Kefraya, from the Bekaa Valley. Or even some Karkadé served very cold, an alcohol-free drink found throughout the Orient, a sweet-and-sour infusion of hibiscus flowers.
Michel BRASSINNE
michel.brassinne@gmail.com
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