Tzatziki! Gesundheit!

East becoming variable, 3 or 4.

Smooth or slight.

Fair.

Moderate or good.

I know: First I am quite for weeks and then I post two recipes in one day (I actually feel tempted to write up a third). But I just happen to have some time now, which is unusual.

And this is a request and my memory is not that good, so I might forget that request. And I helps that I am nibbling on yesterday`s leftover Tzatziki, so I can as well write it up now.

Tzatziki! More than a dip or a sauce. Its a starter or a stand- alone light dish. Not quite sauce, not quite cucumber salad.

And while the commercial ones tend to be really vile, the dish is dead easy to make. Of course there are rules, but rules are there to be broken.

However: Dont skip on the garlic. It is supposed to be gutsy and sharp. And benefits from resting.

And please serve it with bread, at least pita bread. Dont waste an excellent dish on mediocre crisps. If you want a dip for that, go to the supermarket and buy one. But feel free to use it as a sauce for grilled chicken breasts.

And don’t forget Retsina. While Retsina somehow fell out of fashion, it is still an excellent wine to go with it, since its strong herby taste balances the gutsy sauce.

Tzatziki (for one as a stand- alone dish or for two as a dip)

200gr Greek yoghurt (at least 10% fat)

Half a cucumber

3 cloves of garlic

A handful of Dill

Salt

Olive oil

optional- a squeeze of lemon juice

Strain the yoghurt as if you would want to do Labneh (see the technique here), but do it only for a few hours. You want thick yoghurt, not cheese. (If you are time pressed, do it for half an hour, the time you need for the cucumber).

Peel the cucumber and cut it lengthwise into 4 batons. Remove the seeds with a spoon and cut the cucumber very fine. Sprinkle salt over it and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Bash the garlic with a bit of salt in a mortar until you get a paste. Add a tbsp olive oil and incorporate well. Let rest.

Once the cucumber pieces have released some water, put them into a cheesecloth and try to extract as much water as possible. Come on, give it another twist, you will be surprised how much water you can squeeze out of it. If you get tired, strengthen yourself with a glass of Retsina.

Add the dry cucumber pieces to the garlic and pound a bit with the pestle. You just want to create more of the paste, but still keep a fair amount of pieces intact. Plus it incorporates the garlic nicely into the cucumber.

Add the strained yoghurt and mix very well with the pestle. Be careful with the salt now, remember you did put salt onto the cucumbers and the garlic.

This is it in its very basic. From then on it depends on the region. And personal taste. Some regions add fresh mint, but dill is actually more common. And gives a very nice taste. Just chop it very fine and add it with a squeeze of lemon juice to the yoghurt. Nothing stops you using both, mint AND dill, which is maybe an Athens` thing (at least I had it there). A Lady I know and who lives in Athens also recommended a glug of ouzo for a change, which I sometimes use as well. But then omit the dill, the ouzo has already a herby note.

Serve with bread and pour another glug of olive oil over it.

Καλή όρεξη!

Oh, and if you really just want a dip to go with your crisps and it is midnight and you are full of ouzo and don’t care if it is authentic or not: Mix 1/3 cream cheese and 2/3 plain yoghurt, chop up one whole dill pickle, add a good squeeze of garlic paste, salt and a hefty glug of ouzo and mix it. But please don’t call it tzatziki, call it [yourname]`s Greek inspired midnight dip. And please don’t tell anyone that the single gourmet at the sea told you to do it like this.