the grapes that nobody wanted

28. Moussaka

There's a lot of variation in moussaka recipes, even before you get to interesting attempts at modernising the Greek classic like the one in George Calombaris' Press Club cookbook. A lot of the ones online are really just lasagne recipes that use slices of eggplant (aubergine to you, probably) instead of pasta sheets. I don't know how authentic Larousse Gastronomique's recipe is. It doesn't include bechamel sauce, which sets it apart from most of the recipes floating around.

The recipe is a piece of piss. The meat sauce includes onion, garlic, bay, minced lamb (the book says you can use mutton instead, which I'd prefer if I could get my hands on it locally), dried oregano, ground cinnamon, tomatoes and beef stock. The sauce is then layered with slices of eggplant, which must be fried in olive oil first. The whole lot is then covered with a mixture of yoghurt, eggs, flour and nutmeg. It is then baked.

The only problem I had with the recipe was the suggested simmering time for the meat sauce. 30 minutes simply wasn't enough: the sauce was too wet. I gave it a full hour, slowly reducing the sauce with the lid off and allowing the tomatoes to fully break down.

The moussaka is okay. I wouldn't rush to make it again for a weeknight dinner but I could see its potential if I ever had to cater for a lot of kids.

  
29. Rice a la grecque

I figured Greek-style rice would be a nice side dish for the moussaka. Greek classic. Greek rice. You know. Rice is, or so Larousse tells me, Greeked up by the addition of onion, raisins, a bouquet garni and garlic. It can be made even Greekier by adding diced capsicum and pees. Despite the list of ingredients sounding like a variation of the garnished pilaf, which is cooked in the oven, Greek-style rice is steamed on the stove top.