The Queen of Greek Dishes!

Part of why I love Greek food so much is that it is simple, but it's unpretentious. It's authentic.

Princess Tatiana of Greece and Denmark

I was chatting with a friend in world last week who asked what I was having for dinner, I told her I was having Moussaka and went on to explain what it was, her response… “That sounds delicious, I’ll look for a recipe!” Look no further Alex, this is for you!

Many moons ago, in fact more moons than I care to remember, I had a very cheap week away with my then boyfriend to the Greek Island of Crete. It was one of the first times I’d travelled to a foreign country without my parents so, I was full of wonder and excitement, excitement for experiencing a new culture with all that it had to offer, the language, the traditions and of course, the food! At the time, and actually, to this date, Greek food on the whole is defined by good, simple ingredients cooked with love and respect. Coming from a relatively conservative Irish home, the most exotic food I’d eaten was Spaghetti Bolognaise so, for the first few nights I stuck to barbecued fish or meats with a Greek salad. However, the delicious aromas coming from some of the more traditional tavernas was tempting me more and more so, about half way through the holiday, feeling very brave we ventured into a very quiet, tiny little taverna on the edge of the little fishing village we were staying in.

The menu was hand written and heavy on seafood as you would expect. Now I love all kinds of Seafood however, I wanted to try something more… well… Greek! So, it was the first time I’d tried Dolmades, stuffed vine leaves, Spanakopita, little delicate pastries stuffed with cheese, Tzatziki, a wonderfully creamy cucumber and garlic dip however, the star of the show that night was Moussaka!

I’d never heard of it before, in fairness, it was a long time ago so, I asked the waiter what it was, as he described it in his pigeon English, my mouth was already watering, it had to be Moussaka that night and wow, was I in culinary heaven when it arrived, it was beyond delicious and nothing like I’d ever eaten before!

Having eaten to bursting point and drank a couple of bottles of dubious but very cheap wine I asked the waiter if he could recommend a good recipe. He asked me to wait a moment and wandered off somewhere, I thought to get a book or something, five minutes later a lady in an apron and bandana wandered over to the table. In pretty much perfect English, (it transpired later she’d worked in a little Greek Taverna in London!), she asked if I enjoyed the Moussaka, I told her it was the first time I’d tried Moussaka and then I gushed superlatives making her smile grow wider and wider! As I finished, she hugged me as though I was a long lost relative.

She sat down at the table and shouted something to the waiter who wandered over with a fresh bottle of wine and an extra glass. “Nikos tells me you are looking for a recipe for Moussaka?” I nodded and then she stood up with a smile, grabbed a pencil and some paper and came back. “My recipe is not in any books, this is my γιαγιά, (grandmother’s), recipe which I know from my heart.”

Angelina was the chef proprietor of the taverna and all her recipes were passed down from her mother or grandmother, some of which she had slightly adapted over the years but their heart was born in recipes from past generations. She explained that her Moussaka recipe was more than 200 years old! She told me that a lot of Moussaka recipes were complicated but they didn’t need to be, she explained hers was very simple but the best!

I still have the piece of paper Angelina gave me that evening and to this day I’ve still not come across a Moussaka that will beat this one! Here’s what you need!

Ingredients

500 grams/1 pound minced beef or lamb
2 large aubergines/eggplants
2 large courgette/zucchinis
1 large onion or 2 small onions
3 large potatoes
Beef stock
400g can of chopped tomatoes
2 table spoons of tomato puree
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil for frying
1 tablespoon of olive oil
125ml red wine
2/3 cup cheese, grated
3/4 cup of milk or water

Preparation

First, preheat the oven to 220c/428F and line two trays with baking parchment. Slice the Aubergine and Courgette lengthwise into half inch slices. Drizzle some oil onto the vegetables and bake for 30 minutes turning halfway through and adding more oil if it’s starting to look a little dry.

Next, heat a frying pan on medium to high heat and slice the potatoes about a half inch thick again (I leave the skin on) and fry these in some oil and put aside. They don't have to be cooked through but they do need to be golden and cooked on both sides.

Next, chop your onions and then put a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and once hot add the chopped onion and cook until translucent and then add the mince making sure that it’s well broken up. Once it has a nice colour simply add your tomato puree and chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste as well as a half glass of red wine and a tablespoon of olive oil. Then just cook until it becomes a lovely thick sauce.

Next, in a large, oven proof casserole dish you start to assemble your moussaka. Your first layer will be potatoes then mince then half of the cheese, beef sauce then potatoes then your courgette, then more minced beef, then aubergines and so on until you have a final layer of eggplant and then add the rest of the cheese until you are three quarters up your casserole dish. Then just put the pot on the hob, add the milk or water and on a low heat you cook it lid off for approximately 20-25 minutes or when liquid has evaporated.

You can leave the recipe there however, Angelina confessed that her one embellishment that would make her grandmothers head flick back was the addition of a béchamel sauce. Should you choose to add béchamel then you will need to cook your sauce as follows then add to moussaka and put back in the oven at 190c/390F for 15 minutes to thicken and give it some colour. I ALWAYS add it so, here’s how to make a simple béchamel sauce.

Ingredients

300 ml milk
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of corn flour
A pinch of salt, (careful here, the cheese is the real source of the salt), and pepper to taste
55 grams Kefalo Graviera cheese (Greek salty cheese), if you can’t find it, use parmesan instead
2 eggs lightly beaten

Preparation

To make béchamel sauce you add milk butter and flour or cornflour salt and pepper and cook on a low heat. Once this starts to thicken then you take it off the hob then slowly add the slightly beaten eggs into your pot of hot thick sauce, slowly to prevent the eggs scrambling then add your cheese and slowly simmer till you have a thick sauce.

Finally add to your moussaka and put in oven for 15 minutes to thicken and give it some colour.

Done! Alex, I expect to hear a full review of your results over the next few weeks!

What’s on this Week!?