My last post was a resumé about our stay in Athens – for about 5 weeks – in 2017. It was then when found the ultimate recipe for tzatziki.
Tzatziki was always one of my favored dips, but then for a start based on my experiences during our stay when I was able to do a deep dive into different versions of tzatziki and as well recreate it at our home in Athens.
So now I think it’s time to renew the post from 2017 … because tzatziki is a simple dip anytime & everywhere – even when in Southern France or Northern Spain where we are at the moment.
I remember vividly my student days when tzatziki was always on the table. Well: it was easy, cheap & w/ some fresh bread just delicious. I remember also some friends who thought they had to overdo by adding a whole garlic bulb to the yoghurt … Ouch!
I learnt also that you need some substantial basis like Greek yoghurt (10%) … something really creamy! It was never a good idea to use low fat curd cheese or domestic low fat yoghurt …
Tzatziki is simple – all you need is:
- Greek yoghurt
- fresh cucumber
- fresh garlic.
We start w/ peeling, quartering, deseeding & slicing the cucumber; use a mandolin-slicer to get very thin slices. Add salt & let the cucumber rest for at least 15 min.
Add 2 – 4 cloves of garlic (peeled & pressed w/ a garlic press) to the Greek yoghurt. Don’t forget some pepper – mix well. You may add a splash of olive oil if you like.
Garlic: I prefer fresh garlic – very fresh garlic i. e. cloves of garlic w/ juicy skin i. e. the skin hasn’t dried into paper-like skin. (Of course you may use also not-so-fresh garlic – especially if there isn’t any fresh garlic available.)
Let’s resume on the garlic:
- You may add as much pressed garlic as you like.
- Keep in mind that garlic is more intensive i. e. aggressive the less fresh it is.
- Cut away all brown parts of a clove of garlic – always.
Finally the sliced cucumber is ready: squeeze all the water out of the cucumber mess & add the cucumber slices to the yoghurt mix & fold in.
Almost ready.
Add some fresh or dried dill … or some fresh mint finely minced – optional!
Ready.
- 150 g Greek yoghurt
- ¼ cucumber (about 150 g raw material)
- 2 – 4 cloves of fresh garlic (pressed)
- salt & pepper
- ¼ tsp dill (fresh or dried – optional)
- ¼ tsp mint (fresh & finely minced – optional)
- a dash of olive oil (optional)
- Peel, quarter, deseed & chop the cucumber (best w/ a mandolin-slicer).
- Add salt & let it rest for about 15 min.
- Clean the cloves of garlic & press the garlic into the Greek yoghurt.
- Add pepper & mix well.
- optional: add a dash of olive oil.
- Squeeze the cucumber slices to remove as much water as possible.
- Add the cucumber to the yoghurt mix & fold in.
- optional: Add some dried or fresh dill.
- optional: Add some fresh mint finely minced.
Is there anything left to mention?
Dreaming of the Aegean sea …
