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Baba Ghanoush is a traditional Lebanese dish made up of flame roasted eggplant, tahini, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. 

Baba Ghanoush is also an integral part of the Lebanese Mezze and is arguably one of the Mezze’s favourite dips. Baba Ghanoush’s really strong flavour and interesting texture makes it a unique and iconic dish. Its simple ingredients and ease to make, have helped make it one of Lebanon’s most popular foods internationally. In our family Baba Ghanoush is a cornerstone of any Mezze platter that is served.

The History of Baba Ghanoush

The time it was created is still unknown. Its name can be translated in Arabic as “Father of Pestle”, with “baba” meaning father and ghanoush coming from “ghan” stone for pressing grain. This obviously is describing the traditional way to make the dish as traditionally a lot of Lebanese cuisine was made with a mortar and pestle.

To trace back to its origin, we must look to its key ingredient, the eggplant. The eggplant is native to the Indian Subcontinent, and has been cultivated since prehistory. Through trade routes linking Lebanon to India, it is possible eggplants made their way to Lebanon thousands of years ago. The numerous Arabic and North African names for eggplant further cement this idea, showing that the Arabs probably introduced it to the Mediterranean area.

The other major ingredient of Baba Ghanoush is “tahini”, which is a paste made from ground, hulled sesame seeds. The origins of the name tahini has its roots in Arabic and can be related to two original words, one is “Tahana” which mean “to grind” and the other is “Tahin” which means flour.

The oldest mention of sesame is in a cuneiform document written 4,000 years ago that describes the custom of serving the gods sesame wine. The historian Herodotus writes about the cultivation of sesame 3,500 years ago in the region of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers where it was mainly used as a source of oil.

Tahini is also mentioned as an ingredient of “Hummus Kasa”, a recipe transcribed in an anonymous 13th century cookbook, Kitab Wasf al-Atima al-Mutada.