The Best Spices for Eggplant, Dish by Dish: Moussaka, Baba Ghanoush, Ratatouille and Parmigiana

Eggplant has no single spice partner; every classic eggplant dish seasons it its own way. Greek moussaka goes sweet and warm, with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves (one recipe even dusts the eggplant slices with cinnamon). Baba ghanoush gets garlic and tahini, plus smoke from charring that works almost like a seasoning. Ratatouille leans on basil and thyme, and Italian parmigiana on basil and cheese.

At a glance

Moussaka: cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves

Britannica describes moussaka as baked lamb and eggplant, made all over the Balkans and the Middle East and most closely tied to Greece and Turkey: ground lamb with onions, tomato sauce and seasonings, topped with béchamel and grated cheese. Some versions put a layer of sliced potato underneath or swap zucchini for the eggplant, and the Arabic musakka’a is a meatless stew of eggplant, tomatoes, chickpeas and onions in olive oil.²

The sweet spices are what set the Greek version apart. Aglaia Kremezi’s moussaka for Saveur, a recipe she got from her mother, seasons 2 pounds of meat with 2 cinnamon sticks, 6 bay leaves, 1½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg and ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves, plus tomato, a little red wine vinegar and sugar. Even the eggplant slices get a light dusting of cinnamon. Saveur calls the result “creamy, cinnamon-scented comfort food.”¹

Lamb or beef? Britannica says lamb;² Kremezi uses ground beef.¹ Both are documented, and neither source calls the other wrong.

Cheese. Kremezi tops hers with graviera, or Gruyère as a stand-in.¹ Parmesan isn’t in her recipe, though any hard grating cheese does a similar job in the béchamel.

Nutmeg and cinnamon. For how nutmeg compares with cinnamon, see cinnamon vs. nutmeg. If you overdo it, see too much nutmeg or too much cinnamon.

Baba ghanoush: garlic and smoke

Baba ghanoush is a Middle Eastern relish of eggplant blended with tahini, garlic, lemon juice and salt, and it comes in many forms across the region. The smoky flavor comes from grilling the eggplant over hot coals or baking it in a very hot oven until it collapses.³ The smoke is basically a seasoning here, so a charred eggplant needs less added spice. A pinch of cumin or sumac on top is a fine extra, though neither is part of the basic relish. For fresh garlic versus powder, see garlic powder vs. garlic. If yours is too sharp, see too much garlic.

Ratatouille: basil and thyme

Ratatouille is the signature dish of Nice, and basil and thyme are its usual seasonings. Jacques Pépin’s version, as Britannica describes it, uses zucchini, tomatoes, garlic and bell peppers, with eggplant another common ingredient. Chefs disagree about onion. The vegetables are sautéed in olive oil until lightly browned, then gently simmered.⁴ Herbes de Provence makes an easy shortcut for the herbs; see also cooking with thyme and cooking with basil.

Parmigiana: basil and cheese

Parmigiana di melanzane layers eggplant with cheese. Silvana Lanzetta’s “white” (tomato-free) version for The Local uses 6 to 8 large eggplants with 500 g of mozzarella, 150 g of grated Parmesan, six eggs and a big bunch of fresh basil, plus salt and pepper.⁵ The familiar red version adds tomato sauce; we didn’t check a recipe for that one.

Parmesan brings more than salt: it’s rich in free glutamic acid, which triggers umami taste receptors.⁷

Georgian eggplant with walnuts

Saveur’s Benjamin Kemper names badrijani nigvzit, garlicky eggplant rolls stuffed with walnut paste, among the Georgian dishes made with the spice blend khmeli suneli.⁶ See khmeli suneli.

Other spices that suit eggplant

• Cayenne or red pepper flakes: heat to wake up the mild flesh; add to taste.
• Cumin: earthy warmth in roasted or grilled eggplant; see too much cumin if it takes over.
• Smoked paprika: a shortcut to smoke when you can’t char the eggplant.
• Oregano: with tomato-based eggplant bakes.

Olive oil isn’t a spice, but the moussaka and ratatouille here lean on it. Kremezi’s moussaka uses over 2 cups of extra-virgin olive oil,¹ and ratatouille’s vegetables are sautéed in it.

Related

• Cinnamon vs. nutmeg
• Garlic powder vs. garlic
• Too much cumin
• Herbes de Provence