Moussaka
 | |
| Course | Main course |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Turkey (saute form), Middle East (cooked salad form), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia (3-layer form) |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Aubergine or potatoes, meat |
| Variations | Multiple |
Moussaka is an aubergine and/or potato-based dish in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, with many local and regional variations.
In Turkey, it is sautéed and served in the style of a casserole, and consumed warm or at room temperature. In Arabic countries, a variant is eaten cold. In the Balkans, the dish is layered and typically served hot.
Names and etymology
The English name for moussaka comes from modern Greek mousakás (μουσακάς), which derived from the Turkish musakka, which itself came from Arabic musaqqa‘ah (مسقعة), meaning "chilled".[1]
Preparation
Turkey
Turkish musakka is not layered. Instead, it is prepared with sautéed aubergines, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, and minced meat. It is eaten with cacık and pilaf. There are also variants with zucchini, carrots and potatoes.
Balkans
Bulgarian, Bosnian, Croatian, Romanian, Slovenian and Serbian versions use potatoes instead of aubergines, pork or beef mince, and the top layer is usually milk or yogurt mixed with raw eggs, sometimes with a couple of spoons of flour added. There is also a three-layer version: the bottom layer consists of ground pork and beef, the middle layer of potato slices, and the top layer is typically a custard. Each layer is cooked on its own and layered in a pan and baked until the top is browned.
The Romanian version is made usually with potatoes or aubergine or cabbage. The layers start with the vegetable, then the layer of meat (usually pork), then vegetables, until the pot is full. Sometimes bread crumbs are used for toppings, sometimes slices of tomatoes and crushed cheese. The pot is then filled with tomato sauce. There is also a pasta variant, with pasta being used instead of vegetables. The "fasting" variant, which is vegan, replaces meat with mushrooms or a mix of sautéed onions and rice.
In the rest of the Balkans, the top layer is often a custard: this is the version introduced in the UK by Elizabeth David's Mediterranean Cookery and where it remains the usual presentation. Grated cheese or bread crumbs are often sprinkled on top.
Greece
Most versions are based primarily on sautéed aubergine and tomato, usually with minced meat. The Greek version includes layers of meat and aubergine topped with a Béchamel ("white") sauce, and baked.
The modern Greek version was probably formulated by chef Tselementes in the 1920s.[2] It has three layers that are separately cooked before being combined for the final baking: a bottom layer of sliced aubergines sautéed in olive oil; a middle layer of ground lamb lightly cooked with chopped or puréed tomatoes, onion, garlic, and spices (cinnamon, allspice and black pepper); and a top layer of Béchamel sauce or savoury custard. The composed dish is then layered into a pan and baked until the top layer is browned. Moussaka is usually served warm, not piping hot; if cut hot out of the oven, moussaka squares tend to slide apart and consequently the dish needs some resting time to firm up before serving. Reheating, however, does not present the same problem.
There are variations on this basic recipe, sometimes with no top sauce, sometimes with other vegetables. In Greece such variants may include, in addition to the aubergine slices, sautéed zucchini (courgette) slices, part-fried potato slices, or sautéed mushrooms. There is even a fast-day or "vegan" version in the Greek cookbook by Tselementes, which includes neither meat nor dairy products, just vegetables (ground aubergine is used instead of ground meat), tomato sauce, and bread crumbs.
Levant
In the Levant, moussaka is a cooked dish made up primarily of tomatoes and aubergine, similar to Italian caponata, and is usually served cold as a mezze dish. In Lebanon, it is based on aubergines, tomatoes and chickpeas, and is often eaten hot.
See also
- Karnıyarık – recipe comparable to moussaka, popular in Turkey
- Tepsi Baytinijan – recipe comparable to moussaka, popular in Iraq
References
- ^ Origin of word "moussaka" @ Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster also says that the first known use of word "moussaka" in English dates from 1862. Cf moussaka @ Concise OED.
- ^ Aglaia Kremezi, "'Classic' Greek Cuisine: Not So Classic", The Atlantic, Sunday, July 13, 2010 [1]
