Tzatziki

From Phantis
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Tzatziki, (τζατζίκι) is a Greek meze or appetizer, possibly of Turkish origin, also used as a sauce for souvlaki and gyros. Tzatziki is made of strained yoghurt — in Greece and Turkey usually sheep's-milk or goat's-milk yoghurt — to which are added cucumbers (either pureed and strained or seeded and finely diced), garlic, salt and usually olive oil, sometimes vinegar, and dill, parsley or mint. Olive oil, olives, and herbs are often used as garnishes as well.

In Cyprus, the dish is known colloquially as talattouri and recipes often include less garlic and more mint than the mainland Greek counterpart. Tzatziki is always served cold.

Tzatziki is often served with bread (loaf or pita) as part of the first course of a meal. Tzatziki is also used as a sauce for souvlaki and gyros.

The Greek word is derived from the Turkish cacık,[1] which means a form of chutney (cacık, the Turkish side dish with similar ingredients, is diluted).

In Bulgaria, the same dish is known as "dry tarator" (сух таратор) or "Snezhanka" salad (салата "Снежанка"), which means "Snow White salad", and is served as an appetizer. Similar dishes in Iraq are known as jajeek.

In America, tzatziki is sometimes made with sour cream instead of yogurt. However, Greek-style strained yogurt, of various fat levels, is now sold in many supermarkets, eliminating the most time-consuming step of preparing tzatziki in the traditional way and allowing the cook to quickly prepare a yogurt-based tzatziki with a thick consistency.

See also


References

  • 1 ^ Encarta Online Dictionary - tzatziki

External links

A portion of content for this article is credited to Wikipedia. Content under GNU Free Documentation License(GFDL)

  1. Encarta Online Dictionary - tzatziki