When someone starts talking about “authentic” recipes I explain that recipes move around the world on a sea of ever-changing currents. A Syrian woman marries a Turkish man, war displaces and melds populations, and international trade introduces noodles, dumplings, curries, flatbread or whatever to a new constituency. Plus, each household has their own take on local classics.

I came across a good example of this culinary mashup in Bucharest, when I visited Adrian and Gabriel Alexe who run restaurant Bucătăria. One of the dishes they demonstrated was a Romanian musaca which came by way of Turkey and Greece but is also popular in Egypt and the Middle East. They fry their potatoes slices, use a big helping of smoked paprika and thick soured cream (smântâna) and add shredded Romanian cheese (horezu) as a final topping. No eggplant. No béchamel. It’s moussaka simplified but also ramped up in flavor.

A classic Greek moussaka might fry the potatoes as they did in Romania and also fry eggplant. (The Romanian musaca skips eggplant.) We preferred to lighten things up so we cooked the sliced potatoes in a saucepan with water and vinegar instead of frying in oil. The ground pork is cooked in a skillet with onions and garlic and then a small can of tomatoes, pretty standard for moussaka. Many Greek recipes use a flavored béchamel for a sauce (I am a big fan of this creamy layer) but we followed this simplified Romanian version and used crème fraîche and added two eggs to firm up the texture. Manchego cheese works well here, but you could substitute cheddar.

This recipe comes down to a trio of nicely paired layers: a ground pork sauce with smoked paprika, a layer of fortified crème fraîche and a cheesy topping. It’s a simple formula that travels well, from Greece throughout the Middle East and Balkans and now to the New World.

Chris Kimball

Christopher Kimball is founder of Milk Street, which produces Milk Street Magazine, Milk Street Television on PBS, and the weekly public radio show Milk Street Radio. He founded Cook’s Magazine in 1980 and was host and executive producer of America’s Test Kitchen until 2016. Kimball is the author of several books, including "The Yellow Farmhouse" and "Fannie’s Last Supper."