Ancient Greek sculptures, temples, and exhibits of famous museums are not the only ones. A recipe may also be ancient Greek. The age of our recipe is unknown. But we known for certain that it is better to cook it when bazaar and market counters are decorated with mountains of grapes. About the taste, this dish is something between a churchkhela and sweet grape jelly. If you like to try the original moustalevria in Greece, go to the Festival of Grape Harvest and Moustalevria. And if you don’t want to wait, follow my recipe.
Ancient Greek sculptures, temples, and exhibits of famous museums are not the only ones. A recipe may also be ancient Greek. The age of our recipe is unknown. But we known for certain that it is better to cook it when bazaar and market counters are decorated with mountains of grapes. About the taste, this dish is something between a churchkhela and sweet grape jelly. If you like to try the original moustalevria in Greece, go to the Festival of Grape Harvest and Moustalevria. And if you don’t want to wait, follow my recipe.- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 15 minutes + 2 hours’ chilling
- Serves: 6-8
- Difficulty: easy
- Course: dessert
- Cookware: sieve, baking dish 20×30 cm, frying pan
- Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients
- 1½ kg grapes or 1 litre freshly squeezed grape juice
- 250 g semolina
- 100 g honey
- 200 g walnuts
- 35 g sesame seeds
- 15 g cinnamon
Cooking method
Step 1
Fry the nuts in a dry frying pan over medium heat, constantly stirring. Put nuts aside and fry sesame seeds. Squeeze juice from grapes and pour through a sieve into a saucepan.
Step 2
Put a saucepan with grape juice on a medium heat. As soon as it begins to boil, gradually pour in the semolina, constantly stirring the mixture with a whisk. When the mixture begins to thicken, add honey and nuts, and mix. Pour the mixture into a baking dish, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and put in a refrigerator for 2 hours. Serve moustalevria cold, sprinkled with cinnamon.
My tips and tricks:
If you don’t have a masticating juicer like I, then it’s okay, you can squeeze a litre of juice manually. You can use a regular meat grinder: just grind the grapes in it. Gather the grape must in a dense cloth or cheesecloth and squeeze the juice. Or you can use a simple strainer: put it in a deep bowl, add grapes in it and squeeze them out with your hands.
- 1½ kg grapes or 1 litre freshly squeezed grape juice
- 250 g semolina
- 100 g honey
- 200 g walnuts
- 35 g sesame seeds
- 15 g cinnamon
- Fry the nuts in a dry frying pan over medium heat, constantly stirring. Put nuts aside and fry sesame seeds. Squeeze juice from grapes and pour through a sieve into a saucepan.
- Put a saucepan with grape juice on a medium heat. As soon as it begins to boil, gradually pour in the semolina, constantly stirring the mixture with a whisk. When the mixture begins to thicken, add honey and nuts, and mix. Pour the mixture into a baking dish, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and put in a refrigerator for 2 hours. Serve moustalevria cold, sprinkled with cinnamon.