Moustalevria is a Greek dessert made from grape must, cornmeal, and traditionally wood ash. The grapes are boiled, crushed, and sieved before being mixed with flour and boiled again. The dessert is best made in September and October during the grape harvest season. Ash can be replaced with baking soda or baking powder.
Moutalevria is a Greek dessert made from grape must, cornmeal and, traditionally, wood ash. It is best produced in September when the grapes are ripe for picking and the grape must is fresh. Must is the juice from the grape after it has been pressed but before it has fermented. It can be bought from specialty shops, but many Greek families make it from scratch.
The grapes are carefully washed and destemmed before being slowly boiled in their own juice without adding water. They are then crushed by hand or in a mill to extract the must. This is then sieved through a fine mesh to separate the liquid from the grape skin and seeds. A teaspoon of ash from the fireplace or wood stove is added and the mixture is simmered for an hour.
The liquid is then sieved again and cooled. It is measured out and the appropriate amount of flour or cornmeal is added and mixed until the flour is dissolved. This mixture is boiled again and as soon as it begins to thicken, the moustalevria is poured into bowls, topped with ground almonds and cinnamon and left to cool. The end result is a thick gel that is eaten with a spoon.
Traditionally, the ash used in the making of moustalevria was the result of fires started with wood taken from trees surrounding countryside villages. Nowadays, since not everyone has a fireplace or access to clean wood, the ash can be replaced by a tablespoon of baking soda or baking powder, depending on the recipe. In some cases, if the grape was very ripe and sweet, adding ash or baking soda is unnecessary and the recipe can be reduced to grape must and cornmeal or flour. Ash is added to reduce the bitterness of the wine and remove impurities from the wort.
Greek cuisine is seasonally based and the freshest ingredients used when in season. For this reason, the moustalevria is at its best in the months of September and October, which are the months of the grape harvest. Other desserts made with grape must are moustokouloura, or grape must biscuits, and petimezopita, made from the homemade natural sweetener petimezi, or boiled grape must. In the past, before the advent of sugar and artificial sweeteners, petimezi was stored in airtight jars and used all year round to sweeten breads, cakes, puddings and biscuits.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
