Melizanasalata

[Daniel]

I am looking for a Melizanasalata recipe. I was hoping someone might have one. Preferably with dill in it.

Thank you.,

[Jason Perlow]

I am looking for a Melizanasalata recipe.  I was hoping someone might have one. Preferably with dill in it. 

Thank you.,

How is it different than Baba Ghanouj? I thought it was the same thing.

http://recipes.egullet.com/recipes/r1104.html

Here is a Melitzanasalata from a Vegan web site:

http://www.vegan-food.net/index.cgi?147

EDIT: Prime difference appears to be absence of Tehini, which is common to middle eastern preparations of the dish.

[Andrew Fenton]

How is it different than Baba Ghanouj? I thought it was the same thing.

EDIT: Prime difference appears to be absence of Tehini, which is common to middle eastern preparations of the dish.

I've also seen it made with walnuts, which I don't think you'll ever see in baba ganoush.

[Daniel]

Baba Ghanouj has cumin and tahini. The greek eggplant salad has that i know of : olive oil, garlic, charred eggplant, lemon juice and sometimes mayo. I dont know what else is in there.

[Jason Perlow]

Baba Ghanouj has cumin and tahini. The greek eggplant salad has that i know of : olive oil, garlic, charred eggplant, lemon juice and sometimes mayo. I dont know what else is in there.

As I understand it though, the original dish was Babaghanouj, and Melitzanasalata was the derivative after it was introduced into Greece by the Turkish (that along with Hummus, or Revithosalata) along with lots of other kinds of Mezze.

[Wolfert]

The Arabic word "baba" means ' father' and 'ghanoush' means soft. I think it always has to have tahini in it. The Greek eggplant salad doesn't have to have tahini nor does the Turkish.

[Jason Perlow]

Interesting, so revithosalata (the greek version of Hummus) doesn't have tehini in it either? I always thought it was a critical component of the dish.

[Wolfert]

Tahini is not very often used in Greek cooking. matter of fact, in Diane Kochilas' 600 page book on Greek food, tahini is used in dishes only on the island of Rhodes.

Rhodes is very close to the Arab countries which might explain why

In Turkey, you find sesame breads along the Mediterranean in towns likes Mersin

Edited July 16, 2004 by Wolfert (log)

[Jason Perlow]

I can't imagine Hummus without tahini (and the required hit of paprika or chile powder). It would make for a pretty bland dish, I would imagine.

I've had Revithosalata at Greek restaurants in the NY/NJ area, but it tasted exactly like Hummus with tahini in it. I wonder if thats because of the local clientele.

[Wolfert]

I'm sure it is hummus with tahini that you enjoyed. It's a dip that sells well and Greek restaurants have adopted itt in their repertoire because it is expected by clients.

[Jason Perlow]

Well, I've been told I have no taste (laugh) but tehina/tahini is a very strong flavor.

Its fascinating that Greek, Turkish and other arab/middle eastern cuisines share many similarities, but its the minor tweaks and differences in shared dishes between the countries that make it so interesting. For the most part a lot of Greek food can be attributed to their centuries of conflict with the Ottoman Turkish and prior to that the Persian empire, but they have some food items or combinations of ingredients that make up dishes that the other countries don't have at all.

[Marmish]

I am looking for a Melizanasalata recipe. I was hoping someone might have one. Preferably with dill in it.

Thank you.,

I happened to have Modern Greek by Andy Harris out, so I looked up the melitzanosalata. It contains eggplant, garlic, salt, onion, red wine vinegar, parsley, olive oil and pepper.

Roast the eggplant, pound the garlic and salt, whirl it all together in the processor.

No dill, though.