There are many reasons to try this soup out: Canadians got a head start on the long weekend with Canada Day on July 1st, the Americans are gearing up for a red, white and blue July 4th tomorrow, the heat is on with humidity also in the forecast and we’re all looking for ways to beat the heat.
If you’re like me, you’ve tucked the soup recipes away for when the cold months return and you’re enjoying the summer produce, leafy greens, succulent vegetables and herbs and if you’re real lucky, all from your garden. The cucumbers are bountiful and other than making a Greek salad (no lettuce in a Greek salad). Another way to beat the heat and to eat up those vegetables is to try out this cold soup.
Tarator is a cold cucumber soup that will remind you of a Tzatziki but runnier. There’s fresh dill, cucumbers, some acid (I used wine vinegar ’cause that’s what mom showed me), crustless white sandwich bread, plain yogurt, olive oil and raw garlic. A little goes a long way and I used no more than two cloves. If a dish with raw garlic tastes “too hot” then you’ve probably used too much.
This cold soup is made entirely in a food processor or blender but it’s an olden dish and you may certainly go “old’ skool” and pound the garlic and cucumbers and bread into a mash (the bread is the binder). Mix the yogurt and slowly add as much or as little water as you desire. This soup is enjoyed throughout the Balkans, a few varying recipes out there and the Bulgarian recipe also usually includes walnuts – mine doesn’t.
I like this soup to be creamy and one of the ways I do this is to process one whole cucumber (with its skin) in the food processor. The skin of the cucumber gives the soup a light green colour and it helps to thicken this soup. You may add as much water as you wish. You like it thick, add little – you like it thinner, add more water. I also add some more diced cucumber just before serving a portion with a sprig of dill for garnish.
Treat your family and friends to this cold cucumber this summer. It will offer a nice twist to your backyard menu or you can even offer these as shots/appetizers. It’s cool, it’s healthy, it’s delicious and everyone will have garlic breath…no fear of vampires showing up at your door!
Tarator Cold Cucumber Soup (Σούπα ταρατόρ)
(serves 4-6)
1 whole English cucumber, rinsed well and grated
1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 cup crumbled slice white bread (2 slices of crustless white bread)
1 1/2 cups of plain yogurt
2 Tbsp. of extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
sea salt to taste
diced cucumber for garnish
- In a food processor or blender, add the chopped garlic, red wine vinegar and crumbled crustless slice bread and process until it becomes a paste. Now add the grated cucumber and process again until all the ingredients become a mash.
- Now add your plain yogurt and process again until everything is amalgamated. Now through the pouring spout, add a slow stream of room temperature water until you’ve reached your desired consistency.
- Adjust seasoning with sea salt, add your chopped fresh dill and extra-virgin olive oil. Pulse a few times to blend and pour into a plastic container, place the lid on and place in the fridge until chilled.
- Before serving, stir the soup contents to mix the ingredients again and ladle into bowls. Add some diced cucumber, a sprig of fresh dill, some drops of extra-virgin olive oil and serve cold.
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© 2007-2010 Peter Minakis
26 Responses
τέλειο, όπως κι όλες οι Βορειελλαδίτικες συνταγές, αγαπημένο του παππού μου του βλάχου, κι εκτός από τα βαμπίρ διώχνει και την υπέρταση!!!!!!
NICE… that’s a really cool soup Petah, and a super easy one too. We do a somewhat similar raita here, and this is intriguing!
Great soup recipe, makes for a great addition to the 4th celebrations here. Interesting that you call it “tarator”, because in Lebanon we call the “sesame butter sauce” tarator. Is that word greek ’cause it sure isn’t arabic :)
This is something that is totally new to me Peter. Love this idea with all the scorchingly hot weather due.
Your soup looks so cool and refreshing. We are now getting the first of our local cucumbers. I never do think to make soups in the summertime – thank you for the idea!
That looks like a perfect soup for the current weather Peter! It’s hot and humid here as well and standing behind a stove gets to be really really hot right now, so apart from the outside bbq, this is the next perfect dish for hot weather!
What a delicious soup! Refreshing and delightfully flavorful!
Cheers,
Rosa
This recipe sounds wonderful. Will make it this week!
Mmm loving the Greek white gaspacho you got going on. I’ve actually never had this but just got a Med cookbook with this recipe listed as Turkish?
This soup looks exactly like tzadziki deconstructed. I would love it. But my husband hates dill and cucumbers, and hides them when I buy them! I have to send him away, in order to try this, because tzadziki (aka “tarator” salad in most Serbian homes) is a summer staple.
I do lots of soups with yogurt lately. Yours looks great. I love cucumber.
wowza, that’s some thick and luscious soup! i really enjoy chilled soups when the heat is scorching hot, and i don’t think i’ll ever find one more refreshing than this one!
I am still in a hotel and I have been eating lot’s of Greek Salads. This would be perfect also. I’m looking for quick, easy recipes to make until I have my full kitchen. Looks tasty also Peter. Hope you had a great Canada Day.
This looks like just what the doctor ordered for our sweltering, humid weather! It looks both lovely and refreshing.
Yes……..it is HOT and HUMID in the GTA today and for the next few days. This soup looks fantastic, I make something similar like this for my Turkish husband, in the summer he can eat it everyday. Thanks for sharing your recipe and nice picture.
I’ve seen a few versions of this around but never with bread…and I love the vinegar addition too. I think it sounds better if you call it tzatziki soup!
Amazing recipe and it’s so healthy!
This looks damn sexy and now I wish I would have seen it two weeks ago before I had to throw out 6 cucumbers gone bad….next time, let me know, k? good. :)
two cloves wont cut it for me; I like my breath to smell like a dragon’s; of course I will make everybody else’s smell too so it will be a war of garlic breaths with no winner and no losers
I have eaten this and loved it and had completely forgotten about it until now – so thank you for this timely recipe! If it EVER gets hot here – I am making this.
:)
valerie
I finally got a minute to check out this recipe. I love tzatziki, so I’d love to gobble some of this.
What a fabulous recipe, Peter! Summer soups can be so bland but this is tangy and flavorful which is just what we need in this hot weather. Beautiful recipe!
This is a wonderfully refreshing soup. I love cucumber soups and salads so much. Looks delicious!
I don’t think this is a Greek recipe but Balkans traditional.
As Wikipedia says:
Tarator is a cold soup (or a liquid salad), popular in the summertime in Albania, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Iran, Armenia and in Cyprus.
I love tarator, especially the one made with Bulgarian yogurt, which is sour compared with the yogurt that can be found in Western Europe and US.
I am Bulgarian by the way :)
Raya, I never said that Tarator was exclusively Greek or a Greek recipe, but enjoyed in Greece and especially my family. I’ve given it a Greek flavour with the use of Greek yogurt.
As for Wikipedia, I wouldn’t rely on it as an authority.