shakes wrote:Why would you ever get hummus at Pita Inn when they have the best babaganoush on the planet?

Once again I imagine I'm an outlier but the only mushed-up eggplant dish I really like, at least that comes easily to mind, is Strange Flavored Eggplant from China Moon Cookbook.

I'm a solid fan of hummus, including Pita Inn version. I should point out I typically make my own hummus and, probably more importantly, am fairly easy on restaurant hummus, not so much store-bought.

shakes wrote:Why would you ever get hummus at Pita Inn when they have the best babaganoush on the planet?

I could never imagine someone saying this from my own experience with Pita Inn's baba (maybe the non-Skokie locations do it way better). Have you ever tried the version at Andies on Clark? Such a unique smokey flavor. The LEYE version available at Ema & Aba (they describe it as charred eggplant spread for whatever reason) is also very good.

shakes wrote:
Why would you ever get hummus at Pita Inn when they have the best babaganoush on the planet? I guess you could get both, but if you only want one the baba is a no brainer for me. It's so friggen good. I sometimes get a quart and have it over a couple days.

Hey shakes -
I would never pick hummus over Baba G, I'm with you. BUT, if you like smokey and lemony Baba G, Pita Inn's is nowhere close to the top of my list. I'm not trying to know anything better than you, or come off holier than thou in any way at ALL - I'd just want you to hopefully find better to enjoy it even more than you already do. I'm definitely not saying PI's baba is bad, but damn - "best on the planet" is a strong assessment with so many renditions around. Granted, PI generally has the market cornered in the areas that they are in, but "planet?" Maybe "Wheeling" or "Glenview," but..."Planet?"

Again, I'm a fan of PI, I'm a fan of Babag, I'm a fan of their Baba G much more than I am a fan of their hummus, but, "Planet???"

G Wiv wrote:

shakes wrote:Why would you ever get hummus at Pita Inn when they have the best babaganoush on the planet?

Once again I imagine I'm an outlier but the only mushed-up eggplant dish I really like, at least that comes easily to mind, is Strange Flavored Eggplant from China Moon Cookbook.

Have you never had kashkeh bademjoon? One of the great mushed-up eggplant dishes.

bweiny wrote:

shakes wrote:Why would you ever get hummus at Pita Inn when they have the best babaganoush on the planet?

I could never imagine someone saying this from my own experience with Pita Inn's baba (maybe the non-Skokie locations do it way better). Have you ever tried the version at Andies on Clark? Such a unique smokey flavor. The LEYE version available at Ema & Aba (they describe it as charred eggplant spread for whatever reason) is also very good.

not a fan at all of Andies. I don't like overly smokey baba.

seebee wrote:

shakes wrote:
Why would you ever get hummus at Pita Inn when they have the best babaganoush on the planet? I guess you could get both, but if you only want one the baba is a no brainer for me. It's so friggen good. I sometimes get a quart and have it over a couple days.

Hey shakes -
I would never pick hummus over Baba G, I'm with you. BUT, if you like smokey and lemony Baba G, Pita Inn's is nowhere close to the top of my list. I'm not trying to know anything better than you, or come off holier than thou in any way at ALL - I'd just want you to hopefully find better to enjoy it even more than you already do. I'm definitely not saying PI's baba is bad, but damn - "best on the planet" is a strong assessment with so many renditions around. Granted, PI generally has the market cornered in the areas that they are in, but "planet?" Maybe "Wheeling" or "Glenview," but..."Planet?"

Again, I'm a fan of PI, I'm a fan of Babag, I'm a fan of their Baba G much more than I am a fan of their hummus, but, "Planet???"

sorry, but it is the best I've ever had and I've tried a lot of them (not just in the area). They already have the best tahini sauce I've ever had and I think that's the reason the baba is so good. Lots of places make their baba super smokey and I don't like that. I've never had one that had the same flavor profile as Pita Inn's.

spinynorman99 wrote:Have you never had kashkeh bademjoon? One of the great mushed-up eggplant dishes.

I'll be on the lookout, thanks. I might make it myself, hopefully it won't be hard to find kashk, an interesting ingredient. A few recipes I read sub sour cream diluted with a little milk, but whats the fun in that.

G Wiv wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:Have you never had kashkeh bademjoon? One of the great mushed-up eggplant dishes.

I'll be on the lookout, thanks. I might make it myself, hopefully it won't be hard to find kashk, an interesting ingredient. A few recipes I read sub sour cream diluted with a little milk, but whats the fun in that.

Noon-O-Kabab or it's sibling NOK make a fine version.

spinynorman99 wrote:Noon-O-Kabab or it's sibling NOK make a fine version.

Tried kashkeh bademjoon not at Noon-O-Kabab but pretty much across the street at Kabobi. More to my taste than baba, which I often find overly smokey, and I liked the drizzle of pomegranate molasses, but strange flavored eggplant reigns supreme in my mushed-up eggplant lineup.