In the program "Historically Vôtre", on Europe 1, Olivier Poels explains to us the origins, in reality not exactly Greek, of moussaka, and takes the opportunity to deliver us the real recipe for this gourmet dish, a mille-feuille with lamb meat, but not beef.

Also forget about the grated cheese.

In Greece, it's a traditional dish, almost a national dish.

Generous and friendly, moussaka is not from this country.

There was a long brawl between the Greeks and the Turks, who both claimed to be the inventors of moussaka.

But this dish originally comes from the Balkans, Albania, Kosovo.

It was made from mutton and potatoes.

In France, moussaka is like carbonara pasta: we make a very free interpretation of it which is not the original recipe.

>> Find all Olivier Poels' recipes here

The moussaka that we eat at home is indeed often made with beef, and au gratin with cheese.

There is no beef or cheese in authentic Greek moussaka.

Its name comes from the Arabic "moussakaa", which means "fresh".

Because in Arab countries, moussaka is eaten cold.

It is a mutton stew with vegetables, especially eggplants.

Bechamel sauce, a miraculous addition

But modern moussaka as we know it, and as it has been popularized throughout the world, it was Nikolaos Tselementés who invented and codified it in 1910. It was this chef who wrote the first true large Greek cookbook in which we find the recipe for moussaka.

Nikolaos Tselementés then had the absolutely brilliant idea of ​​adding the famous béchamel sauce to this mille-feuille of meat and eggplant.

It is she who will give all the softness and smoothness to this recipe and make the international success of this dish.

Moussaka

Ingredients:

  • 1 shoulder of lamb, boneless and thinly sliced

  • 3 eggplants

  • 500 gr of tomato coulis

  • 2 onions, thinly sliced

  • 1 clove of garlic

  • 1 bouquet garni

  • 1 glass of white wine

  • ½ liter of béchamel

  • Olive oil

Recipe:

  • Brown the onions, add the garlic, meat, white wine, bouquet garni, and simmer 40 min (the meat must be tender)

  • Cut the eggplants into slices 0.5 cm thick

  • Grill the eggplant slices in olive oil and let them rest on absorbent paper

  • Assemble the moussaka by alternating layers of meat, eggplant, tomato coulis and finish with a nice layer of béchamel

  • Bake for 10 minutes in an oven at 200 ° and brown the top