Athens Moussaka (Μουσακάς Αθηναϊκός)

Athens moussaka is the layered casserole of the city table: potato below, eggplant through the middle, cinnamon-scented minced meat, and a tall bechamel lid browned until it freckles. This is the version most Greeks recognize now, the Sunday and name-day tray that feeds a crowd and still cuts into square portions if you let it rest.

The eggplant decides whether the dish sings or sulks. Salt it first, let the moisture come out, then dry it well before oil touches it. Do that, and the slices brown with a clean vegetable sweetness. Skip it and the pan gives you oil wearing an eggplant costume. I won't defend that.

Use ripe tomatoes in season, or good canned tomatoes when the calendar says no. The meat sauce should be thick, the bechamel warm and steady, the tray rested long enough to gather itself. Your grandmother cooked by eye because she'd made it a thousand times. Here are the numbers until you have.