To know whether the pomegranate molasses is of good quality, the color of the liquid must be a little transparent and it must contain a sweet flavor even though it contains normal acids with no additional honey or sugar. Hassen Kojah, the local chef, shows Bobby Chinn how to make a few appetizers such as Muhammara and Baba Ganoush. To begin the cooking, they take an aubergine (eggplant) and pokes holes with a fork so it can cook better. Hassen gets started on the Muhammara by using the red pepper paste as a base and adds 1 or 2 spoons of pomegranate molasses to bring about a sweet and sour taste to it. He then adds a spoon of paprika for mild heat, a teaspoon of cumin, adds olive oil allowing the base to absorb the oil and afterwards adds breadcrumbs. For the final touch, he adds chopped walnuts and serves it in a presentable …show more content…
After the Muhammara comes the Baba Ganoush. He begins to make it by first placing the aubergine on the grill. While waiting for it to cook, Bobby Chinn asks the meaning of Baba Ganoush and he says Baba means Daddy and Ganoush means doll dance. He then chops the aubergine into pieces, added parsley, red pepper, green pepper, pomegranate seeds, garlic olive oil puree, lemon juice and finally a spoon of Tahini. Tahini is a type of sesame paste and it binds the food together. Baba Ganoush is a traditional that can be found everywhere in the Middle East but in Aleppo, it’s served as a dip with Tahini as well. Right after all the mixing and stirring, Hassen fills the bowl up with the Baba Ganoush, adds the molasses in the middle, topping it with walnuts, pomegranate seeds and breadcrumbs to finish it. Besides cooking, the countryside west of Aleppo is the most fertile in the region and they grow their one of the oldest cultivated fruit in history, the pomegranate. People there believe that the fruit in the Bible wasn’t an apple but a pomegranate instead. Bobby Chinn finds the pomegranate molasses very interesting that he visits the local area to see how they make