Moussaka like a true greek

Our meal special of the week was Moussaka with rice and a side salad. You'd be surprised how many people here in Hermanus don't know what Moussaka is. I reverted to the description of "the Greek version of Lasagna with tomato infused minced beef, baked aubergine and lots 'n lots of cheesy cheese sauce".

First there are the customers who know the dish and came especially to eat it when they heard that it was to be our special; then there are the less informed but adventurous customer whose faces would light up and the meal would sell itself; but then there are the customers who as soon as I mentioned aubergine would visibly shut down and I would have to use all the descriptive words and sounds like "yummyyyyyy", "delicious", "Parmesan and cheddar cheeese" etc  in order to sell it. After the "hard sell"some people would fall for it and at the same time absolutely fall in love with my Moussaka, while others would stay shut down but would switch on again when Cheese burger, Toasted sandwich and chips or one of our delicious salads are mentioned. (thank goodness for a standard menu to save the day when the specials board doesn't send some people's tummies a-rumbling).
Vanessa's coming back tomorrow. I can't believe 3 weeks passed already! But I must admit, we all missed her dearly and I for one am looking forward to seeing her in the kitchen again :) I guess I'm still going to be involved in the kitchen because when she returns, Nwabisa our assistant cook will go on her 3 week leave and Vanessa will probably need help. I kind of enjoyed my stints in the kitchen, cooking all the specials and baking all the cakes again - it's quite a nice feeling to tell the customers that yes I made it myself when they rave about a dish or slice of cake and ask who made it. But hey I can't do everything all the time - we all have our designated roles to fulfill and I will go back to just planning the menus and stepping in when needed.

I think I have said my piece for the day. Just one request - as a sign that you have read this and that I'm not writing in vain, please tick one of the boxes below, add a comment or something - just to let me know that you were here? Many thanks and have a good day!