How come my baba ghanouj is so bitter?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I take a medium-sized eggplant and put holes in it with a fork.

I put it on top of aluminum foil on the middle rack of the oven. I let it sit for 35- 40 minutes at 375 degrees.

I peel off the skin and mash up all the insides. I add the tahini, lemon juice, salt and mashed garlic.

I let it cool down in the fridge and then serve with a half-teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil mixed in per serving.

I serve with hot buttered pita.

The problem is that it’s bitter and remains bitter.

What am I doing wrong?

2

You must cut it up then sprinkle both sides with salt and leave on a rack for 1/2 hour or so-- the osmotic pressure forces the very bitter liquid out-- then sort of rinse off the now-wet slices and proceed.

3

Or you could try another variety of eggplant. At my local farmers’ market, there’s a variety called zebra. It’s a white and almost lavender striped colored eggplant. Small and not bitter at all.

If that’s too exotic, have you seen white eggplant in your local market? That, too, is a less bitter eggplant variety.

4

Thanks Copybara. So let me get this straight. After cooking the eggplant, I should remove the peel and then slice up the insides into 1/2-inch or so slices? Then I salt both sides of the slices and let sit for 1/2 hour or so before mashing it all up and mixing in the other ingredients, right? Or did I mess up the sequence?

5

JuanitaTech: I’m very new to cooking. I had no idea that there are different varieties of eggplant. Thanks much!

6

That’s before cooking, I believe (although capybara could correct me; I’ve not done much cooking with eggplant).

7

Eonwe is correct, you’d salt the slices prior to cooking.

Eggplant tastes so much better if it’s eaten the day you buy it. If the eggplant has a lot of seeds, it’s most likely going to be more bitter than you’d like.

I say your best bet is to find a lighter, smaller variety of eggplant and use it fresh.

8

Perhaps you bought a bit of bitter butter.
If you bought a bit of better butter
Then your baba ghanouj would not be bitter.

9

Baba ghanouj is smokey eggplant dip. If you can’t cook the eggplant over hot coals, thoroughly blister the skin over the gas jet before salting and popping in the oven.

10

I second the notion of salting it down: the salt draws out the bitter taste. Just be sure to rinse it all off before you chop, slice and continue cooking.

11

Recipe from Foodnetwork.com:

Baba Ghannouj

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

1 eggplant
2 cloves garlic
2 ounces fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
1/2 bunch parsley, leaves only
Salt and pepper
Pierce some holes in the skin of the eggplant (to avoid explosion) and grill over medium-high heat turning every 7 minutes, until the skin is blackened and the body is nice and soft. Total time for grilling is about 30 minutes. If you do not have a grill you can roast your eggplant in a 375 degree F oven for about 30 minutes.

Remove eggplant from the grill and let cool.

Once the eggplant is cool enough to handle, peel away the skin and discard. Place the eggplant flesh in a colander and drain for 10 minutes. In a food processor, combine garlic, lemon juice, tahini and parsley and pulse to combine. Add the eggplant flesh. Season with salt and pepper and pulse to combine. Adjust the flavor with more Tahini or lemon juice if you prefer. If it’s bitter, some sugar or honey will help. Research shows that the white variety of plant is sweeter in flavor.

IIRC, in his show about eggplant, Alton Brown recommended the salting and squeezing method of eggplant prep, but he doens’t mention it here.

StG

12

If you don’t have a charcoal grill or a gas stovetop, then don’t bother with baba ghanouj, or brinjal bhurta, or any aubergine puree dish. You have to start by setting the eggplant on fire. Simply baking him in his own juices will not do. He must be burnt and charred and blackened on the outside.

I park my eggplant on the lit gas burner, turned up to high, and turn him a few times with a fork. If he’s not quite done all the way through, I might finish him off in the microwave.
(yes, eggplants are “he”)

13

I echo the above posters–smaller is better. Also, get one that seems heavy for its size. The salt thing helps, but I’d say you’d be better off just not even bothering with those big gigantic eggplants that you usually see at the stupidmarket. Look for the small “Italian” eggplants.

14

Salting eggplant does not reduce bitterness. Old eggplants are bitter both before and after cooking. Fresh eggplants are bitter before cooking but sweet after. Salting is done on sliced eggplant when you wish to remove moisture to retain the shape of the slice it is pointless if the eggplant is being mashed. There are several different varieties and generally smaller ones will be sweeter.

15

Is the eggplant nice and mushy after you bake it? Your time/temp combination might be a bit on the low side. If not, cook it longer. If so, then a) make sure your eggplant is really fresh, and b) use lots and lots of fresh lemon juice and garlic! (Most recipes call for way too little, IMHO.)

16

Don’t salt it (not for baba ghanouj, at least); instead, keep it in the oven until the skin is burnt, then put it on a cutting board, laid on an angle in a sink or in a large bowl. Leave it be for at least two hours while the juices drain. Then peel it and get on with he program.

The eggplants, BTW, should be light for their size, not heavy.