A Middle Eastern Affair

With the prolific crop of Brinjals I am constantly looking at new ways to use them in meals. I decided to make Baba ghanoush but finding tahini in the countryside was  proving impossible.

                                                 Roasting Brinjals                     Photo: Heinrich Wolff

                                           Sweating Brinjals                              Photo: Heinrich Wolff

One of my blog readers gave me the obvious solution to making my own. Well I have learned a lot about tahini in my quest to making some. I am now the proud owner of a jar of fresh homemade tahini in my fridge.

                                                                                              Photo: Heinrich Wolff

With no excuse not to make Baba ghanoush I picked a healthy crop of Brinjals and took them with to the braai on Saturday. I could just as well make use of a healthy braai fire to roast my Brinjals. The brinjals loved the fire and with their blistered skins and cooked meat they had that nice smokey flavour that the recipe called for.

                                                                            Smokey Brinjals                              Photo: Heinrich Wolff

The cooled down brinjals were easy to peel and prepare. A friend brought me a lot of spices from the spice market in Istanbul after her visit to Turkey. My kitchen had such a Middle Eastern feel and aroma with the spices, their names written in Turkish, the smell of smoked brinjals and fresh tahini.

Baba Ghanoush

The finished product was rich and flavoursome and would have had any “pampered papa” asking for more.

On Sunday we had lunch al fresco on the lawn with our friends visiting from England. The day was one of those hot dry Karoo days and the taste of the Baba Ghanoush served with chilled MCC could make one believe that you are in the Middle East somewhere relaxing in an oasis.