After our mini-survey, conducted among philhellenes, regarding “the most Greek dish, moussaka came out on the top.

The Greeks themselves say that moussaka is “the epitome of Greek cuisine, combining all the flavors of summer in one wonderful pot. There is no other dish that so expresses summer vocation, warm weather and home cooking”.

Fresh summer vegetables, soaked up the sun, are covered with slow-cooked minced meat in a reach tomato sauce. All this luxury, absorbing the aroma of wine and spices, is ennobled by béchamel sauce and grated cheese, covering the finished dish with a golden crust. Moussaka enchants from the first bite!

“Béchamel sauce?” will ask the surprised profane. “How it came out in a Greek dish?”

Yes! The today cooked moussaka appeared relatively recently—about 100 years ago—thanks to Nicolas Tselementes, one of the most influential cookbook-writer in Greece. A native of the most “delicious” island of Sifnos and a chef of best restaurants in Europe (in 1920-1930s), he boldly combined Eastern and European recipes. Thus, adding minced meat and béchamel sauce to a Turkish (or Balkan) vegetable casserole, he gave to the Greeks and the whole word the “classic” moussaka.

His books are a gastronomic covenant for his compatriots, just as Pokhlebkin’s “Book of Tasty and Healthy Food” was for us.

There are countless variations of moussaka now. Not only every chef, every housewife has her own recipe of it: with or without potatoes, with different spices, with yoghurt instead of sauce. There is even a vegetarian version. But gourmets are strict: “You can add and subtract whatever you want—this not allow you to call the prepared dish “moussaka”. If you do not follow the classic recipe, they believe, you will simply get “vegetables with minced meat and sauce from the oven”.

So, here’s the classic recipe from the site of greekflavours.com; and we recall the words of a less-known Greek chef: “Real Greek moussaka is a labor of love and patience!”

Are you ready? Then let us gather the necessary ingredients.

4 sliced eggplants

4-5 finely chopped potatoes

4-5 zucchini (optional)

750 grams minced meat (beef or a combination with lamb)

1 large white onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic

2-3 tbsp olive oil

150 ml red wine (optional)

2-3 bay leaves

800 g fresh or canned tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato paste

Vegetable oil for fraying

A pinch of sugar

120 g butter

120 g flour

1 l milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Freshly grated nutmeg

250 g Greek hard cheese

The preparation will take about two hours and will consist of four stages.

First: preparation of mince. Fry the mince in a deep frying-pan for 5 minutes. Add the onion ad garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the wine and wait until it evaporates. Then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and bay leaf. Let he sauce simmer for about 20 minutes to thicken.

Second: preparation of vegetables. Cut the zucchini and eggplant into 1 cm thick slices. Fry them in a frying pen, or bake them in the oven: they absorb less oil there.

Third: preparation of the béchamel. Heat the milk in a saucepan and set aside. Melt the butter in another saucepan over low heat. Carefully add the flour and stir quickly. When the mixture turns a light golden color, pour in a little warm milk and stir again. Thereafter, dilute the composition with the remaining milk. Cook it stirring for about 10 minutes to get a velvety, creamy taste. Finally, remove from heat. Season with salt, pepper and fresh nutmeg to your taste.

Fourth: backing in oven. It is better to turn on the oven before preparing the béchamel. Lightly grease a deep baking dish and lay into it the vegetables: first the potatoes, then the eggplants and finely chopped zucchini. Top with the minced meat sauce and smooth it out with a spatula. Finally, pour the béchamel over it and sprinkle with grated cheese.

The moussaka will simmer in the oven for about an hour. When the top is golden brown, it’s time to take it out. Don’t rush, no matter how tempting the smells are: before cutting and serving the “most Greek dish”, let it sit for about ten minutes.

Enjoy your meal!

sources: greekflavours.com, cretaone.gr, healthweb.gr, kathimerini.gr