Melt In The Mouth Moussaka

When I visit a country on my travels there are two things I have always believed I should do. The first is to make the effort to be able to at least say “hello”, “please” and “thank you”, in their language. The second is to try their local food; a practice which has led to many a tasty discovery over the years.

Many years ago a Greek colleague was extolling the delights of her native cuisine to a bunch of us, adding that no-one made moussaka like her granny. Back then I’d never even heard of moussaka, let alone tasted it, and being very definitely not into cooking at that time I didn’t pay much attention to the conversation. Not long afterwards I changed career paths and never saw her again so my first experience of moussaka wasn’t until twenty four years later during a girlie holiday in Kavos, at the end of the holiday season. Since it was the last week before everything closed down the place was swimming in alcohol which, obviously, needed to be used up. To this end all the bars in town were practically giving it away. Needless to say, most nights; or early hours of the next morning; we came in awash with the stuff, slept late and missed breakfast. Fortunately there was a cafe just over the road from where we were staying which did a fantastic all day breakfast; which served as our main meal of the day once we surfaced; but in the evenings it turned into a cosy bistro serving “traditional” Greek food. On our second night, before heading out to prowl the bars we decided to give the place a go. Which is when some of us tried our first moussaka. We were so taken with it we returned a few more times and made it our last meal out before flying home.

A couple of years later Paul wanted to go on a five day “paint drying meet”; a whole load of sign-makers get together, paint stuff and party; only it was in Greece. Corinth to be exact. A long way for a weekend, so we decided to make it our holiday for that year. Once the paint drying activities were over we stayed on for a few more days and hired a car to explore the area. The organisers had arranged several excursions, one of them being a trip to Ancient Corinth with a tour of the ruins. Unfortunately there wasn’t time to explore the older Acrocorinth on that trip so that was where our first outing took us. After wandering about amongst the rocks and ruins under the blazing sun for a couple of hours we were well and truly ready for a drink and a bite to eat. We parked the car in the only car park back down in the village and took a stroll along the main street. There were several places to eat but the restaurants were pricy and the cafes all seemed to be catering for tourists with unappetising “cosmopolitan” burger and chips menus. We were getting a little hangry and frustrated until we stumbled upon a greasy spoon of a place, full of mums with buggies, drinking frothy coffee, and men in overalls tucking into their lunch. Our theory has always been, “if it’s full of locals, it must be good” so we went in. And we weren’t disappointed. We were greeted by a short, stout, sixty-something lady swathed in a flowery pinafore, who sat us at a table on the pavement, beneath the shade of a huge, striped awning. One look at the menu and I knew what I was having. I ordered the moussaka and a frothy coffee. Paul opted for a sandwich and a cold drink. When it arrived I was taken aback, it was not in an individual bowl surrounded by chips as I’d expected but a firm slice sitting alongside a bread roll on a tea plate. I tentatively took my first mouthful. If I thought the Kavos moussaka was good, this was heaven on a plate. Once she had my approval the lady in the pinafore pulled a chair over from an adjacent table, sat down, folded her arms under her ample bosom and told us, in heavily accented English, that the secret was in making it early in the day. She would get up at 6am to start preparing and cooking her moussaka, which was famed in the town, she said, but I do suspect she was a tad biased. I was so taken with moussaka that when; whilst perusing the shelves of the gift shops later in the holiday; I discovered an English version of a Greek cookbook which not only had the recipe for cheese pies; another delightful culinary discovery; but also included a good recipe for moussaka, I bought it on the spot. I continue to use this cookbook to this day and the pages now fall open at the moussaka recipe. I have adapted it slightly since I am no longer catering for an army and if there’s a shortcut, I will use it. I have started to use a combination of two recipes, the original from my cookbook and a very similar one I found online; MyGreekDish.com; as it adds in a few herbs and spices to enhance the flavour. It also allows me to feel less guilty about not peeling and chopping fresh tomatoes as it replaces them with tinned ones, which saves an awful lot of time and mess. The choice of whether to use aubergines or potatoes is usually dictated by taste or whether good quality aubergines are available locally. Maybe we should try growing our own aubergines on the allotment this year. I tend to substitute them with potatoes more often than not but another variation we like, come autumn, is to substitute the aubergines with our homegrown courgettes. Oh, and before you all ask, the book also falls open at the page for the cheese pies!

Ingredients

• 1kg aubergines or potatoes
• ½kg mince
• 2tbs olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 60ml dry white wine
• Bay leaf (optional)
• Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Bechamel sauce
• Grated kefalotiri or parmigiano-reggiano cheese

For the Bechamel Sauce

• 2tbs good butter
• 2 heaped tbs plain flour
• 500mls milk, slightly warmed
• 2 beaten eggs
• 200g grated kefalotiri cheese or parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• Pinch of nutmeg (optional)

Method

1. To prepare the aubergines, if using, rinse and cut into large slices. Season with salt and leave to drain for 30minutes. If using potatoes, peel and cut into slices 0.5cm thick.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 180-200C.
3. Heat 2tbs olive oil in a large pan and sauté the onions until soft.
4. Add the mince and sauté until it starts to brown.
5. Add the wine to stop the browning process and cook until it evaporates.
6. Add the tinned tomatoes, bayleaf and a pinch of cinnamon and stir in well. Bring to the boil then cover and simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes.
7. Whilst the meat sauce is simmering, rinse the aubergines (or potatoes if using) and pat dry before arranging on a lightly greased baking tray, brush with olive oil and bake in the oven at 180-200C for 20 minutes.
8. Prepare the béchamel sauce.

Bechamel Sauce

1. To prepare the béchamel sauce melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a low-medium heat.
2. Add the flour, stirring quickly to make a roux.
3. Add the milk a little at a time until it is all used, stirring well each time to prevent lumps forming.
4. Add the grated cheese, continuing to stir the mixture constantly.
5. When it thickens, remove from the heat and allow to stand for 1-2 minutes.
6. Slowly add the beaten eggs and mix in well. The sauce is now ready for use.

Assembling The Moussaka

1. Arrange half the aubergine/potato slices in the bottom of a 9″x13″ baking dish
2. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
3. Pour in the meat sauce and spread evenly.
4. Add a second layer of aubergines/potatoes and sprinkle with grated cheese.
5. Pour on the béchamel sauce so the surface of the moussaka is covered in a thick layer.
6. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake until the crust is golden and crisp.
7. Remove from oven and leave to cool until it is just warm to the touch as this will allow the béchamel sauce to set.
8. Serve with a Greek salad, crusty bread and a nice glass of red wine.
9. Enjoy!