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Baba Gannouj

A roasted eggplant dip made with tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil, garnished with parsley.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Baba Gannouj

Time1 hour cooling

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the eggplant

  1. Cook eggplants whole on all sides, turning as necessary until they are soft throughout and the skin is charred.

  2. Set aside to cool for 1 hour.

  3. Peel eggplants and discard skin.

Make the dip

  1. In a mixing bowl, add lemon juice and tahini. Blend well.

  2. Add salt to taste.

  3. Finely chop the garlic clove and add to mashed eggplant. Stir well and chill.

Serve

  1. To serve, place in a flat serving dish and garnish with parsley.

  2. Pour olive oil on top.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

267Calories
4 gProtein
22 gFat
18 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Tahini1 tbsp (15g)89
Eggplant1 cup cubed (82g)35
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Eggplant + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together801 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Eggplant + olivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together943 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  5. Eggplant + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together328 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggplants
Their flesh becomes soft and creamy when charred and cooked through, forming the dip's base.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the smoky eggplant and balances the richness of the tahini.
Tahini
Sesame paste that adds body, nutty flavour and creaminess to the mashed eggplant.
Garlic clove
Adds sharp, pungent aroma that mellows slightly as the dip chills.
Olive oil
Adds fat and a smooth finish over the surface of the dip.

The step that matters

Charring the eggplants until soft throughout. Charring builds smoky flavour in the skin and the flesh must cook fully soft so it mashes smoothly. Undercooked eggplant stays fibrous and bitter, giving a grainy, harsh dip.

Swap the tahini

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (eggplant, lemon, garlic, clove, parsley, olive):

  1. Chickpeafits better
  2. Lentilsfits better
  3. Cashew nutfits better
  4. Tahinithe original

Fit is the average pairing score against eggplant, lemon, garlic, clove, parsley, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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