Baba Ganoush

Friday morning, no article written for Tom Cooks! A task usually allocated to a Thursday. Yesterday, however, I was away on important business, to wit gorging on good food and drinking wine for a future Tom Eats! article. Fresh as a daisy I set to. Simplicity will be the order of the day. We'll end the Greek theme with a moussaka, something I've made many times and for which I have a great recipe.

A problem looms. The recipe is so good that it has been endorsed by readers - when I used it last year. Although now synonymous with Greece, moussaka has its roots in the Middle East, as do so many famous dishes. The sights and smells of the kitchens of Imperial Persia must have been quite something. Where's a magic carpet when you need it?

Then, having eaten a rather good hummus at lunch, two words came to mind, baba ganoush. Translated from the Arabic it means spoiled daddy. A simple enough thing as I recall, with aubergines and tahini and whatnot. As ever these days, I consult Zeph, my digital assistant, who confirms my suspicions. But then I turn to today's Middle East oracle, Yotam Ottolenghi. What! Red peppers, green peppers, tomatoes, no tahini! Shome mishtake, surely? Yotam tells us not to confuse baba ganoush with mutabal, which he describes as a smoother dip. When I track down his recipe for that it is much more like the BG version I have.

The estimable Felicity Cloake has written on the subject, including it in her How To Make The Perfect... series. Reading her researches, it's fairly clear that our Yotam is in a minority. She has considered celebrated food writers such as Claudia Rodden and David Lebovitz. The recipe I give you today is a cross between Zeph's and Felicity's.

It's deceptively simple, but there are a few important points to note, starting with the aubergines. Smokiness is a key feature. Easy enough if you're cooking over fire - try this if you're using the barbie - but it presents problems in a domestic kitchen. They need to be blackened and shrivelled, soft enough to scoop out the flesh. Felicity warns that doing it over a gas hob is incredibly messy. An alternative is to prick them a few times and cook in a hot oven. A compromise might be to blacken them under the grill then roast. What is important is that they end up soft. Over a flame this will take about 15 minutes, turning often. If cooking in the oven, set it to 220°C and cook until soft  (about 40 - 45 minutes), turning from time to time.

The flesh will be wet. Draining is therefore important. You can leave it in a colander. Some books say for 10 minutes: others for an hour. I suggest squeezing it in a cloth. In her recipe Felicity omits the olive oil at the blitzing stage, preferring to drizzle it at the end. I think a bit of both works well.

Finally the garnish. Herbs or pomegranate seeds or both? They are optional, but your end product will be the poorer without them. I'd advise using both and I like Felicity's idea for the herbs. She points out that if you add them only as garnish, the first pitta scoop may take the lot.

Baba Ganoush

Ingredients

2 large aubergines; 60g tahini; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 30ml lemon juice (keep an extra half lemon in case you need more); 30ml good extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling; salt to taste; 3tbsp (total) chopped mint and/or flat leaf parsley (optional but recommended); 1 tbsp pomegranate seeds (optional).

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Roast the aubergines (see above). When they are soft and cool enough to handle, remove the flesh and season with a little salt. Drain the flesh, either in a colander for 30+ minutes, or by squeezing in a cloth. You can mash with a fork, but a food processor is easier. Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, oil, little salt and two thirds of the herbs. Pulse rather than blitz - you want a little texture.

Check the seasoning again. It may need more lemon juice or salt. Put in a shallow bowl and drizzle more oil around the edges. Garnish with the remaining herbs and the pomegranate seeds. Traditionally served with pitta bread or raw vegetables.