Moussak-Ayee!

[Dannyalcatraz]

 

 

 

 

 

Did some more serious cooking than I have been of late, per my parents’ requests.  This is something we call Moussak-Ayee- a fusion of Mediterranean and Creole cuisine.

 

Moussaka (and its cousin, pastitio) is a Greek/Lebanese casserole similar to lasagna.  consisting of alternating layers of eggplant and meat, with potatoes added in some traditions.  The eggplant & potato layers replace the pasta found in lasagna.  The meat is sautéed with onions, garlic, tomato and seasoned with things like salt, pepper, oregano, chives, parsley and cinnamon.  

 

The whole dish is topped with a béchamel sauce that has been made into a custard by enhancing it with cheese, white pepper, eggs salt and nutmeg.

 

The Creole fusion part in the dish comes from substituting 2/3 of the traditional ground beef/lamb/beef & lamb mix with authentic Louisiana hot sausage. This provided a modest but noticeable heat kick.

 

If you wanted to do something similar, but wanted to stick to traditional middle eastern ingredients, replace the Louisiana hot sausage with sujuk.  Sujuk is an Eastern European/Middle Eastern fermented, relatively hard sausage that- while not as hot as the Creole stuff I use- still delivers some heat.  It’s kind of like a spicy Italian sausage.