1. My favorite Greek traditional food is Moussaka
Moussaka is an aubergine and minced meat based dish of the
Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean, and the Middle East. The best
known variation outside the region is the Greek one.
The name comes from the Arabic: musaqqaʿ 'chilled This
a
name is used in Greek cuisine (μουσακάς), Turkish (musakka),
and the South Slavic languages (musaka/мусака). Other
languages call it simply "eggplant casserole"
INGREDIENTS
4-5 eggplants
½ kilo minced meat
2-3 tomatoes
5 teacup olive oil
2 chopped onions
1 garlic clove
1 bay leaf
Oil for frying
½ teacup grated Parmesan cheese
Flour
2-3 cups Bechamel sauce
Salt & Pepper

2. DIRECTIONS
Heat the cup of oil in a pot and saute the onions (chopped) in it.
Add the minced meat and continue to saute for 10 minutes. Add
the tomatoes, the bay leaf, the garlic clove, the salt and pepper
and allow the mixture to boil for about one hour.
Wash the eggplants and trim off their stems.
Cut them in round slices and then let them soak in salted water for
approximately one hour. Drain their slices, coat them with flour and
fry them in very hot oil (for a lighter version, cook the slices in the
oven for 15', in 200C degrees).
In a pan, place a layer of eggplants' slices, salt and pepper and a
layer of the minced meat mixture. Add another layer of eggplants
and minced meat mixture.
Pour the bechamel sauce over the last layer.Sprinkle with the
grated Parmesan cheese and bake at a high temperature for about
2 5 minutes.
Take out the "moussaka" and cut it in square pieces.
EXTRA INFO
Most versions are based primarily on sautéed eggplant
(aubergine) and tomato, usually with minced meat. The Greek
version includes layers of meat and aubergine topped with a white
sauce/Béchamel sauce and baked. Turkish musakka, on the other
hand, 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. The Serbian version and Bulgarian version
use potatoes instead of aubergines, pork mince and the top layer
is yogurt mixed with raw eggs and a couple of spoons of flour. In
the Arab world, moussaka is a cooked salad made up primarily of
tomatoes and aubergine, similar to Italian caponata, and is usually
served cold as a mezze dish.

3. The modern Greek version was probably invented by Tselementes
in the 1920s.[4] It has three layers: a bottom layer of sautéed
aubergine slices; a middle layer of cooked ground beef cooked
with onion, garlic, chopped tomatoes, herbs, and spices
(cinnamon, allspice and black pepper); and a top layer of
béchamel sauce or egg custard. The composed dish is baked until
the top layer is browned. Moussaka is usually served lukewarm.
In Serbia and Bulgaria there is also a three-layer version: the
bottom layer consists of ground pork and beef, the middle layer
slices of potatoes, the top layer a custard. Each layer is cooked on
its own and layered in a pan and baked until the top layer is
browned.
In the rest of the Balkans, the top layer is often a custard. This is
the version which was introduced into the UK by Elizabeth David's
Mediterranean Cookery and where it remains as the "classic"
presentation. Grated cheese or bread crumbs are often sprinkled
on top.
There are variations on this basic recipe, sometimes with no
sauce, sometimes with other vegetables. The most common
variant in Greece may include courgette (zucchini), part-fried
potatoes or sautéed mushrooms in addition to the aubergine.
There is even a fast-day version in the Greek cookbook by
Tselementes which includes neither meat nor béchamel sauce,
just vegetables (ground aubergine is used instead of ground
meat), tomato sauce, and bread crumbs. In some cases,
moussaka is also decoratively layered on top of grape leaves (a
common ingredient in Greek cuisine, also used for example in
dolmades).

4. Michopoulos Dionisios
Latsari Eleftheria
Fourouzidou Theodora