Tzatziki
Feb 1st, 2010 | By Peter Minakis | Category: Appetizer, Dairy, Dips, Featured, Greek, Herbs, How To, Salad
Recipe update from June 2007
What would a food blog from a Greek dude be without touching upon Tzatziki? I’ve been disappointed with the representation of Greek food in North America and in particular, Toronto. I found that once very good Greek eateries are going the way of serving pre-made foods & dips on their menus. Tzatziki has fallen victim to this drive for competitiveness and frankly, laziness.
Here’s the classic Tzatziki from a Greek, with little secret….
You will need:
- 500 gr. of plain yogurt
- 1-2 cloves of minced garlic (depending how garlicky you like it)
- 1/2 English cucumber, seeded and grated
- 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
- splash of Ouzo
- squeeze of lemon juice to taste
- salt
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
A good Tzatziki requires that you use strained yogurt. If you have a Greektown in your city, you can pay more & buy it strained or, go my way and take your plain yogurt and dump in a metal strainer with a pot underneath to catch the draining liquid. You’ll need at least 12 hours for the final thick, strained result.
Next step is to take your cucumber and seed it then box grate it into the strainer. Sprinkle some salt to help draw out the moisture. Give the cucumber 30 minutes and use a cheese cloth or your hands (in batches) to squeeze out the water.
Add your grated cucumber to the yogurt and now add 1-2 cloves of minced garlic, your chopped dill, season with salt to taste, squeeze of lemon juice, the olive oil and lastly, a splash of Ouzo….yes Ouzo. It gives your Tzatziki that “je ne sais quoi”!
Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, give it a dill garnish and serve with toasted pita bread.
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Great presentation Peter! I love this good olf classic.
We have a HUGE greek town near us…Tarpon Springs..aka..The Sponge Docks. I have had some pretty good tzatiki there. But I am just a white cracker, so I have nothing to compare it to!!! lol
I love tzatiki & I especially like your ’secret’ ingredient! Cheers!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kalofagas Greek Food, sheri latulip and Anthee , Anthee . Anthee said: RT @kalofagas: http://bit.ly/c0HRlU recipe update….ubiquitous in Greek cuisine…Tzatziki. [...]
you are definitely a man i trust with creating the perfect tzatziki. it can be so shit sometimes but when it is made well, damn! i feel like sticking my finger in that bowl!
Nick (son) had been requesting tzatziki repeatedly last week until I could not hold myself any longer and I firmly put him in his place and said ” don’t call it tzatziki, it is called laban wkhyar!” . Very annoying when your own flesh and blood is asking for Greek food and you can only give him what you know!
That being said, my hat off to you, your tzatziki sounds fantastic, especially with the splash of ouzo, I will definitely spike mine next time!
Love tzatziki! I like the ouzo flavor you added. Never heard of that before, will try it. Also, I too use strained plain yogurt. It takes more time, but it’s less expensive than buying the ready strained variety.
I’ve never tried making this with a splash of ouzo. Love your presentation too.
Peter, it looks so very wonderful! I love the presentation.
Hi Peter,
that’s the right tzatziki.
Delicious
Greeting jacob
I love tsatsiki and make it quite often, but it never occured to me to put ouzo in it. Την επόμενη φορά, όμως…
[...] with mint (instead of dill), a garlic-roasted pepper sauce and a roasted lemon and garlic sauce. The Tzatziki recipe is already on my site – just substitute the dill with fresh mint. The roasted red pepper [...]
Sometimes I strain my own yogurt, but sometimes I want it immediately and don’t have patience for straining. If it were a spur of the moment craving, what quantity of pre-strained yogurt would you recommend using? I know some of the volume goes away during the whey straining, but I am not sure how much.
If you have access to strained yogurt from a local Greek deli/market…about 250gr. worth, which is half of what’s left when you strain a whole tub of plain yogurt.