Moustalevria

Moustalevria
Alternative names	Moustokouloura (cookies), mustopita (pie form), palouzes, kefteria, kourkouta
Type	Pudding
Place of origin	Greece
Main ingredients	Grape must, flour

Moustalevria (Greek: μουσταλευριά) or must jelly (also mustpie and mustcake) is a traditional Greek kind of pudding made of grape must mixed with flour and boiled until thick. Moustokouloura, must biscuits or must cookies are the biscuit (cookie) version.

Historical information and names

Moustalevria originated in Ancient Greece where it was known under the name oinouta (Ancient Greek: οινούτα).^[1]^{[dubious – discuss]}

During the Byzantine era it was called mustopita (μουστόπιτα) or pastellos (πάστελλος).^[2] Nowadays except from its standard name, moustalevria has alternative names that differ from place to place, e.g., it is also known as kefteria^[3] in Crete, kourkouta^[2] in Samos, palouzes^[4] in Cyprus and mustopita^[5]^[6] in other regions.

Preparation

In order to produce moustalevria, grape must (the juice from pressed grapes before fermentation) is boiled in low fire. Then a small amount of argil is added in order to clean the must.^[4]^[7] After the boil, ingredients like flour, sugar, semolina, petimezi, sesame, vanilla, almonds, walnuts, etc. are included.^[4]^[5] Moustalevria is popular at grape harvest season when the must is fresh.

References

^ "Le bulletin «Les Nouvelles» est édité par l'Institut d'Etudes Néo-Helléniques de Paris" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-12-29. Retrieved 2020-05-11.
^ ^a ^b Kafiri, Simoni (4 September 2014). "Κλασική μουσταλευριά". protothema.gr (in Greek). Proto Thema. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
^ Zacharioudakis, Fanourios (6 October 2015). "Κεφτέρια ή αλλιώς Μουσταλευριά". cretanmagazine.gr (in Greek). Cretan Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Ππαλουζές". foodmuseum.cs.ucy.ac.cy (in Greek). Cyprus Food Virtual Museum. Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
^ ^a ^b Γ. Μπαμπινιώτη(2005), Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens, 2005, p. 1129.
^ "Χριστουγεννιάτικη Σιατιστινή Κουζίνα". siatistanews.gr (in Greek). Siatista News. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
^ "Palouzes / Sioutzoukos". letymbou.org. Community Council of Letymbou. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2015.