moussaká

One of the most famous dishes of Greece, moussaká is very similar dish is also made throughout the Balkans and Middle East—the name arrived with the Ottoman Turks, who took it from the Arabic musaqqa‘a, ‘that which soaks up liquid.’

The Greek version, as codified by French-trained Greek chef Nikólaos Tselementés from Sífnos in the 1920s, features of beef mince (or lamb) with onions, tomatoes and cinnamon, layered with sliced sautéed or fried aubergines, and topped with béchamel and grated cheese, then baked. There are endless variations, vegetarian moussaka, or moussaka with slices of potatoes or courgettes.

Cheap tavernas tend to make a very thick layer of béchamel with very little meat and aubergines.