As part of a way to broaden my culinary horizons, I am attempting to make one National Dish from each country
The first national dish I made was Moussaka from Greece. Moussaka is a egg-plant based dish, that is layered with a meat(In my case ground beef) and topped with a bechamel sauce.
This dish was not easy to make but I do feel that it will get easier if you prepare it often. There was two main complications
- Waiting around time
- Things needing to be cooked at the same time
To elaborate, when you first start you have cut and salt the eggplant slices and then wait for 30 minutes. If you were doing this in a rush or you did not anticipate the time, this could definitely screw you over. On top of that you have to simmer the beef mixture in the tomato/red wine and then let cool before adding an egg as the binder. Long story short, this is not a recipe you can make quickly.
It can also be overwhelming when you are trying to juggle the multiple task required. I was running around trying to brown the eggplant slices while mixing the beef mixture and reading the next step of the recipe.
However with all that being said, the end result was wonderful. It was delicious and tasted unlike anything I had ever cooked. My friends agreed that it was a wonderful.
I would definitely make this again.
Recipe available here.