Baba ganoush

The oven grill is the best option: put the pricked aubergines on a high shelf at full heat and turn them until the skin blisters and blackens all over. Roasting at 200°C gives very soft flesh but no smokiness at all, since the charred skin is what creates it.

The aubergine was not drained enough. Grilled flesh holds a lot of water, and mixed with tahini it stops the dip setting. Give it the full ten minutes in the colander before peeling, then let the peeled flesh drain a few minutes more, discarding the brown juice that collects.

The bitterness comes from the tahini itself, either from over-roasted seeds or from a jar that has gone rancid after long storage. Taste it on its own before mixing it in. A little more lemon and salt will mask mild bitterness, but nothing rescues genuinely rancid tahini.