Name: Mousaka
Yield: Serves 6–8
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: 75 g/3 oz/6 tbsp butter; 150 ml/¼ pint/⅔ cup hot water; handful of chopped fresh parsley; 40 g/1½ oz/⅓ cup grated graviera kritis, Cheddar or Parmesan cheese; salt and ground black pepper; 1 red bell pepper, cored and sliced into small cubes; 600 g/1 lb 6 oz fresh tomatoes, chopped or 400 g/14 oz canned chopped tomatoes; 2.5 ml/½ tsp sugar; 700 g/1 lb 9 oz/3½ cups minced/ground beef; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; at least 250 ml/8 fl oz/1 cup sunflower or corn oil; pinch of allspice (optional); 1 egg, lightly beaten; 600 ml/1 pint/2½ cups warm milk; 90 g/3½ oz/¾ cup plain/all-purpose flour; 4–5 aubergines/eggplants, about 1.6 kg/3½ lb; 350 g/12 oz (1–2) onions, chopped; 75 g/3 oz/¾ cup grated kefalotyri, Parmesan or Cheddar cheese; salt and ground white pepper; 15 ml/1 tbsp dried oregano; 30–45 ml/2–3 tbsp olive oil; 1 small cinnamon stick (optional)

Preparation info

Serves
6–8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Food & Cooking of Greece

By Rena Salaman

Published 2023

About

Mousaka is synonymous with summer and celebration in Greece, appearing on sunlit Sundays for lunch or on saints’ days. It’s also one of the most popular and recognizable Greek dishes. For a delicious mousaka, the aubergines have to be fried first. Some people skip this step for health reasons and instead dip the aubergine slices in olive oil or brush them with it and bake them in the oven for about 30–40 minutes until cooked, but this does not produce such good results.

It’s also im