Mutabal: the Middle Eastern dip dethroning guacamole and tzatziki

Mutabal is the highest-rated dip on the popular Taste Atlas website. Only guacamole—a Greek mixture made from avocado, onions, chilli, and tomatoes—can compare. The guacamole was already popular during the Aztec era and was made from avocado, onions, chilli, and tomatoes. Tzatziki—a Greek mixture made from yogurt, cucumbers, garlic, and numerous herbs and spices like dill, mint, or parsley—can also compare.

Mutabal is inextricably linked with Levantine cuisine, a region on the Mediterranean Sea's eastern coast. Visiting Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, or Palestine, it's hard not to encounter the aromatic dip made from roasted eggplants, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, yogurt, olive oil, and salt, served both at street stalls and in luxurious restaurants.

Today, it's unknown where this specialty recipe originated. Most clues point to Lebanon, where eggplants were enjoyed as early as the 13th century, according to medieval Arabic manuscripts. Many gourmets believe you can taste the most delicious mutabal there. This dish is often mistaken for another Middle Eastern specialty, baba ghanoush. However, the latter usually does not include tahini.

In the Middle East, mutabal is usually eaten with pita bread as part of a meze—a set of delicious appetizers. It also tastes great with fresh bread (rye bread), crackers, or vegetables, whether raw or baked. It can also be a tasty addition to grilled meats.

Mutabal owes its flavour to the main ingredient, eggplant. It is a product with high nutritional value. Although it consists of 90% water, the rest contains valuable vitamins (vitamin C, B vitamins), minerals (potassium, calcium, magnesium), and other organic compounds, including anthocyanins—powerful antioxidants that stimulate the immune system, have anti-inflammatory effects, and protect the circulatory system. Scientific studies have shown that these plant pigments counteract the development of cancers (including lung, colon, and stomach) and help treat them by alleviating the symptoms of chemotherapy, among other things. They also reduce the risk of heart disease and positively affect eyesight.

Eggplant is a solid source of proteins, especially arginine—an amino acid that is a valuable building block of muscles, significantly increasing our ability to exert effort and speeding up wound healing.

The pear-shaped vegetable also contains a significant amount of chlorogenic acid, which has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and choleretic properties. It also reduces the absorption of sugar from the digestive tract and improves tissue sensitivity to insulin.

No less valuable for health is tahini paste, which is also indispensable in mutabal. It can be bought in stores (making sure the ingredients list includes nothing beyond sesame, potentially with good-quality oil, preferably sesame oil) or prepared at home. Simply toast sesame seeds in a dry pan, being careful not to burn them, which would result in a bitter taste. Once they turn golden, blend them thoroughly until a smooth consistency is achieved. To speed up this process, you can add a bit of sesame oil or olive oil.

The most important task is properly preparing the eggplant, which should have a distinctive, smoky flavor. The simplest way to achieve this is by grilling. Wash two medium-sized eggplants, wipe them, make vertical cuts in several places, and pierce them. Then, place them on the grill and bake for 15-20 minutes, turning frequently.

If preparing the dish at home, you can use a stove and roast the eggplant on all sides over a burner, continuously turning it, or place it in an oven for about 30 minutes at 375°F. Once cooled, peel the eggplants, cut them into relatively large cubes, put them in a colander, and let them drain.

Add garlic (3 cloves) to a blender, blend for a minute, then add the eggplant, tahini paste (4 tablespoons), lemon juice (3 tablespoons), thick natural yogurt (2 tablespoons), and a pinch of salt. Blend until a smooth consistency is achieved.

Chill the paste in the refrigerator, and then serve with olive oil, chopped parsley, and pomegranate seeds.