- Eggplant (and often potato), sliced and fried
- Minced beef or lamb with onion, tomato, cinnamon and oregano
- Bechamel sauce with egg and cheese, baked on top
Moussaka
Moussaka, the layered eggplant and bechamel bake. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Moussaka is the layered bake of eggplant, minced meat and bechamel that most of the world knows as the Greek dish. Slices of fried eggplant (sometimes with potato) are layered with spiced minced beef or lamb, then crowned with a thick bechamel and baked until golden.
It is eaten hot from the oven, in tavernas and homes alike, usually as the main dish with bread and salad. The name comes from the Arabic musaqqa'a, but the bechamel-topped version is Greek, standardized in the early 20th century by the chef Nikolaos Tselementes.
Key ingredients
Where to try it
- Tavernas everywhere in Greece; it is the standard taverna main.
- Home-style restaurants (mageiria) in Athens and Thessaloniki.
- Bakeries and takeaway shops sell individual portions.