Dictionary:
mous·sa·ka (mū-sä'kə, mū'sä-kä')  |
A Greek dish consisting of layers of ground lamb or beef and sliced eggplant topped with a cheese sauce and baked.
[Serbo-Croatian, from Turkish mussakka, from colloquial Egyptian Arabic musaqqa‘a, chilled, moussaka, feminine passive participle of saqqa‘a, to chill, variant of ṣaqqa‘a, from ṣaq‘a, cold, frost, from ṣaqi‘a, to be white.]
| 5min Related Video: Moussakas |
| Recipe: Moussaka |
Recipe origin: Greece
Ingredients
Procedure
Serves 6 to 8.
| Food and Nutrition: moussaka |
Greek, eastern Mediterranean; minced lamb, potatoes, onions, and aubergine (and sometimes tomatoes), topped with béchamel sauce and baked.
| Food Lover's Companion: moussaka; mousaka |
[MOO-sah-kah] Originally from Greece, moussaka is a popular dish throughout most of the Near East. Its basic form consists of sliced eggplant and ground lamb or beef that are layered, then baked. The variations, however, are endless and the dish is often covered with a béchamel enriched with eggs and/or cheese. Other variations include the addition of onions, artichokes, tomatoes or potatoes.
| Wikipedia: Moussaka |
| Moussaka | |
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| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Alternate name(s) | Musakka/Moussakas |
| Place of origin | Middle East (cooked salad form), Greece (3-layer form), Turkey (saute form) |
| Dish details | |
| Course served | Main Course |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredient(s) | Eggplant and meat |
| Variations | Multiple |
Moussaka ([musa'ka]; Greek: μουσακάς, South Slavic: musaka/мусака, from Turkish: musakka, ultimately from Arabic: مسقعة musaqqaʿa "chilled"[1][2]) is an eggplant (aubergine)-based dish of the Balkans and the Middle East. Though it is part of all the cuisines of the former Ottoman region and has an Arabic name, in the West, it is best-known in its Greek form.[3]
All versions are based primarily on sautéed eggplant and tomato, usually with minced meat. The Greek version, which is the best-known outside the region, includes layers of meat and eggplant topped with a white sauce and baked. Turkish musakka, unlike the Greek version, is not layered. Instead, it is prepared with sautéed eggplants, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, and minced meat. It is eaten with cacık and pilaf. There are also variants with zucchini (courgette), carrots and potatoes. In the Arab world, moussaka is a cooked salad made up primarily of tomatoes and eggplant, similar to Italian caponata, and is usually served cold as a mezze dish.
In the classic Greek three-layer recipe, the bottom layer consists of eggplant slices sautéed in olive oil; the middle layer is ground lamb cooked with onion, garlic, chopped tomatoes, herbs, and spices (cinnamon, allspice and black pepper); and the top layer is a béchamel sauce or egg custard (probably introduced by Tselementes in the 1920s). Each layer is cooked on its own and then they are laid in a lightly buttered or oiled pan and baked until the top layer turns golden brown. Moussaka should not be served straight from the oven, as it is too runny; it should always be left to settle for 20 to 30 minutes before cutting and serving. Once the temperature has dropped below 60 degrees Celsius, the portions, although still hot, will keep their shape on the plate. Leftover moussaka keeps well in the refrigerator and can be eaten cold as well.
In the rest of the Balkans, the top layer is often a custard. 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 zucchini, part-fried potatoes or sautéed mushrooms in addition to the eggplant. There is even a fast-day version in the Greek cookbook by Tselementes which includes neither meat nor béchamel sauce, just vegetables (ground eggplant is used instead of ground meat), tomato sauce, and bread crumbs.
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| Translations: Moussaka |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - moussaka (græsk ret)
Français (French)
n. - moussaka
Deutsch (German)
n. - Moussaka (griech. Gericht)
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μουσακάς
Português (Portuguese)
n. - mussaká (m)
Русский (Russian)
блюдо греческой кухни из молотого мяса и баклажан
Español (Spanish)
n. - plato griego preparado con carne, berenjenas, etc. con queso
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - moussaka
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
肉和茄子做成的希腊菜
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 肉和茄子做成的希臘菜
한국어 (Korean)
n. - (요리의 일종) 무사카
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) طبق عام مشهور في الشرق الأوسط
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - מוסאקה - מאכל יווני עם בשר טחון, חצילים ועוד
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Copyrights:
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Recipe. Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World. Copyright © 2002 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Food and Nutrition. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Food Lover's Companion. Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Moussaka". Read more |
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| Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more |
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