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Moussaka (, , ; ) is an aubergine (eggplant)- or potato-based dish, often including ground meat, which is common in the Balkan cuisine and the Middle East, with many local and regional variations.
The modern Greek cuisine variant was created in the 1920s by Nikolaos Tselementes. Many versions have a top layer made of milk-based sauce thickened with egg (custard) or flour (béchamel sauce). In Greece, the dish is layered and typically served hot. Tselementes also proposed a vegan variant for orthodox fast days. Romania also has a vegan version that replaces meat with mushrooms or a mix of sautéed onions and rice.
The versions in Egyptian cuisine, Turkish cuisine and the rest of the Middle East are quite different. In Egypt, mesaqa‘ah can be made vegan or vegetarian as well as with meat; in all cases, the main ingredient is the fried aubergine. In Turkey, mussaka consists of thinly sliced and fried aubergine served in a tomato-based meat sauce, warm or at room temperature. In Saudi Arabia, is eaten hot, but in other Arab cuisine, it is often eaten cold, but occasionally hot as well.
The modern Greek version was created by the French-trained Greek chef Nikolaos Tselementes in the 1920s.Aglaia Kremezi, "Nikolas Tselementes", Cooks and Other People, Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery, p. 167: "before Tselementes there was no moussaka, as we know it today" His recipe has three layers that are separately cooked before being combined for the final baking: a bottom layer of sliced aubergine sautéed in olive oil; a middle layer of ground lamb lightly cooked with chopped or puréed tomatoes, onion, garlic, and (cinnamon, allspice and black pepper); and a top layer of béchamel sauce or savoury custard.Νικόλαος Τσελεμεντές, Οδηγός μαγειρικής και ζαχαροπλαστικής, 1930
There are variations on this basic recipe, sometimes with no top sauce, sometimes with other vegetables. Such variants may include, in addition to the aubergine slices, sautéed zucchini (courgette) slices, part-fried potato slices, or sautéed Edible mushroom. There is a fast-day (vegan) version in Tselementes' cookbook, which includes neither meat nor dairy products, just vegetables (ground aubergine is used instead of ground meat), tomato sauce, and bread crumbs.
Another variant is (melitzánes) papoutsákia (μελιτζάνες) παπουτσάκια () which consists of whole small aubergines stuffed with ground meat and topped with béchamel and baked.
Typically, the Romanian version is made with potatoes or aubergine or cabbage. The layers start with the vegetable, then the layer of meat (usually pork), then vegetables, until the pot is full. Sometimes bread crumbs are used as a topping, sometimes slices of tomatoes and crushed cheese. The pot is then filled with tomato sauce. There is also a pasta variant, with pasta being used instead of vegetables. The "fasting" variant, which is vegan, replaces meat with mushrooms or a mix of sautéed onions and rice.
In the rest of the Balkans, the top layer is often a custard; this is the version introduced to the UK by Elizabeth David's Mediterranean Cookery and where it remains the usual presentation. Grated cheese or bread crumbs are often sprinkled on top. The potato version is also the most commonly used version in Norway, despite the most common of those potato versions (Toro) being incorrectly marketed as "Greek moussaka".
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