Tzzzzaaahtzeeekeeeee Sauce

You know!

That Greek cucumber sauce?

How do you say it?  tuh·zee·kee

If the “t “in front of the “z” bothers your tongue, go for “zaaahhht.”

Say “zaht” a few times. Easy.

Then practice the “zeeekeee.”

Put the two parts together and repeat several times.

As you practice putting the first part – which ends with that troublesome “t” – with the second part, you’ll get the hang of the “tz” combination.

Add the opening “t” and you’ll be walking through the house proclaiming: “Tzatziki!”

Your kids may question your sanity, but they won’t question how delicious and versatile this sauce is. With three main ingredients – cucumber, garlic, and Greek yogurt – it’s a cinch to make.

The basic recipe can easily be halved or doubled, can be tweaked for, more or less, garlic taste, and can be made with mint or dill to add a wonderful top note of flavor interest.

But where do you use Tzatziki Sauce?

As a dip with pita, chips, or veggies. As a mouth coolant to spicy dishes – add a dollop on top of the food or at the side of the dish to dip forkfuls into. As a flavor companion to salmon, lamb, pork, beef, chicken. That’s just about everything.

I especially appreciate the adaptability of recipe size. When buying an English cucumber, I’m often not dutiful enough to eat it every night and some gets wasted after a while.

Cooking for one has its drawbacks.

But, using half the cucumber for a few salads, and the other half to make just over a cupful of Tzatziki sauce, and I’m happy.

You will find you can adapt this to your personal and family palate preferences by tweaking quantities and flavor additions.

Without further delay, I present Tzatziki Sauce 101.

TZATZIKI SAUCE

Basic ingredients

1 English cucumber – at least partially peeled and grated or very finely chopped – put grated/chopped cucumber in a sieve to drain and squeeze with towel or paper towels to remove excess fluids

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups Greek yogurt – if you desire an even thicker sauce, let the yogurt strain through a sieve or cheese cloth over a bowl overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Finishing touch ingredients that may vary

Dill weed to taste – fresh or dried

Fresh mint, chopped

Pepper to taste – white pepper would be optimal

1 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp white vinegar or lemon juice

A note on ingredients: When I’ve been around those who made this at home, myself included, no olive oil or lemon juice have been used – just vinegar. I’ve only used a liberal amount of dried dill – but after looking at many recipes, the mint leaves may be an interesting addition – depending upon the purpose.

Method

Nothing much to do except stir together the squeezed out grated/very finely chopped cucumber, minced garlic, and yogurt. Add the vinegar, pepper and dill weed; stir to combine.

Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before using to allow flavors to meld.

Some recipes call for using a food processor; that would eliminate the fine texture of the sauce, but may make it more dippable.

Whatever you do, you will end up settling on a texture level, garlicky level, and dill level that suits your tastes and needs.

Three main ingredients with countless uses. What could be better?

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In health-

Deidre