I was in Greece this summer and loved it especially the food of course. The country's most iconic food is it's spread"tzatziki". Tzaziki is a very old dish, not something new. It was created by the Persians to tone down an Indian spread called raita sauce. When the Persians came to middle east they took their newly invented version of raita sauce. Through time the Greek's modified it a little it and it became known as today" tzatziki". The recipe I have written below is from Jamie Oliver.
Ingredients:
½ a large cucumber 2 cloves of garlic 2 tablespoons quality extra virgin olive oil 1 x 500g tub of strained Greek yoghurt 1 small bunch of fresh dill a few sprigs of fresh mint 1 lemon optional: 1 teaspoon dried mint
Instructions:
Slice the cucumber in half lengthways and cut or scrape out the seeds – this is where most of the water content is. Grate the remaining cucumber. Place the grated cucumber in a sieve, rest it on a bowl and add some sea salt. Give it a stir, and leave to drain for a few hours, or overnight in the fridge. Stir now and again, helping it along by pushing the liquid out with a spoon. In the meantime, peel and finely grate or crush the garlic, then combine with the oil in a large bowl. You can allow this to sit for a few hours to mellow out the pungency, but it’s not essential. When most of the liquid has drained from the grated cucumber, spread it out over a tea towel and pat dry. Combine with the garlic mixture, then stir through the yoghurt until evenly distributed.Finely chop the dill and mint leaves, then fold through the yoghurt mixture along with a squeeze of lemon juice and the dried mint (if using). Season with salt to taste.Serve with warm pita or Turkish bread and crudités, or alongside salad and grilled meats. Picture: https://andrewzimmern.com/2018/06/15/tzatziki-sauce-recipe/
Website on it's history: https://greekonwheels.ca/all-youve-ever-wanted-to-know-about-tzatziki/
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