Sadzyki sauce Greek recipe. Tzatziki: a classic recipe and the history of the origin of the famous Greek snack

Tzatziki Greek sauce is prepared very quickly, but it turns out tender, juicy and incredibly fragrant. Universal sauce can be served with meat and fish dishes, potato side dishes - and simply as an independent snack. Tzatziki is not only the famous Greek sauce that you will be served in any restaurant in the world, but also a light cold appetizer: it contains fresh cucumbers. I eat this sauce just with spoons, or spread it on bread - it's very tasty.

Ingredients:

• 150 grams of natural (without fillers) yogurt;
• 200 grams of fresh cucumbers;
• two cloves of garlic;
• one tablespoon of olive (or sunflower oil);
• 0.3 teaspoon of salt.

Greek tzatziki sauce. Step by step recipe

1. Wash a fresh cucumber well, peel it and rub it on a fine grater.
2. Squeeze out all the juice from the cucumber mass, transfer to a small bowl.
3. Add natural yogurt (according to the recipe). If necessary, yogurt can be replaced with low-fat sour cream.
4. Pass one or two cloves of garlic (to taste) through a press or chop on a fine grater, add to the cucumber mass.
5. Salt to taste (I put a third of a teaspoon), mix thoroughly.
6. Pour in a tablespoon of olive oil (can be replaced with refined sunflower oil), mix again.
7. The finished sauce can be served immediately, or you can give it time to brew: then it will become thicker, more aromatic and even tastier.

I suggest you prepare natural yogurt for this Greek sauce yourself, at home.

• Pour one liter of milk with a fat content of at least 2.5% into a saucepan. Put on fire and bring the milk to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Turn off.
• We cool the milk to a temperature of 40-45 degrees (you will have to use a water thermometer).
• We are preparing the starter. From the total mass, pour a little milk into the dishes, add 100 grams of purchased natural yogurt (this is about 3-4 tablespoons). Mix thoroughly with a spoon.
• Attention. The shelf life of the desired yogurt should be no more than 14 days.
• Wash the thermos in advance and pour over with hot water.
• Pour half of the milk of the desired temperature into a thermos, then send the sourdough there, add the rest of the milk.
• Close the thermos with a lid and leave for 5-8 hours at room temperature. Do not hold for a long time, otherwise the yogurt will become sour.
• Pour the finished yogurt into a glass jar, mix with a spoon and send it to the refrigerator for 2 hours to stop the growth of lactic acid bacteria. Store in the refrigerator for no more than three days. Can be used to prepare various dishes, as well as add fillers - and get delicious sweet yogurt.

Chopped dill or parsley, chopped olives, fresh mint will significantly enrich the taste of Greek sauce. Before serving, the Tzatziki sauce should be infused for several hours in the refrigerator, after which it should be served in a bowl or gravy boat. The prepared sauce can be served with meat and fish dishes, potato side dishes - and simply as an independent snack.

You will never forget the hot Greek sun, the beaches with white sand and azure sea water, cozy little taverns, their homely, simple, incredibly delicious food. And of course, the extraordinary taste of the most popular Greek snack "tzatziki" (τζατζίκι), which is also called "tzatziki", "tzatziki".

Local residents, and most tourists, believe that it is difficult to find tastier and healthier dishes for the summer table. One way or another, it is tzatziki, along with - that have gained the widest popularity among people who prefer a healthy diet and natural, high-quality, environmentally friendly Mediterranean products.

Some people choose tzatziki as a cold “meze” appetizer, consumed with warm and fragrant bread in addition to a glass of ice-cold ouzo, tsipouro or raki, others prefer it in the form of a spicy sauce for grilled meat - gyro or souvlaki, as well as to grilled fish, french fries or zucchini.
And what Greek holiday is complete without lamb roasted on a spit and amazing “kokoretsi” - a dish of lamb giblets, to which only tzatziki can be the best addition!

History of the origin of the sauce

They say that this dish of cucumbers with yogurt was prepared by ancient Greek cooks for the famous "symposiums".

It was called Μυττικό (mittiko), and the recipe for its preparation and the products used practically did not differ from today:

Cucumber. The name goes back to the ancient Greek ἄγουρος (cucumber), and comes from ἄωρος (immature), that is, eaten unripe. Perhaps the Greeks considered this vegetable an unripe or green melon. The father of botany, Aristotle's friend Theophrastus from the island of Lesbos, gave a description of three varieties of cucumbers that were eaten by the Greeks both raw and boiled.

Yogurt. The basis of tzatziki sauce - the famous Greek yogurt made from sheep's or goat's milk - was also familiar to ancient Greek cooks, as evidenced by numerous references to a fermented dairy product made in linen wineskins.

Name history

Byzantine chefs, who inherited many traditions of the ancient Hellenes, began to add chopped, egg and white cheese to this dish, as well as a little white wine, and gave it the name Tzakisto.

Later, this sauce also appeared among the Turks, who borrowed it from the Byzantines. In Turkish, they began to call him cacik.

During the Ottoman yoke, the Turkish name of the dish appeared among the Greeks, turning into the current tzatziki (τζατζίκι).

And although the Turks prepare jadzhik from almost the same products: cucumbers and yogurt, it has a completely different taste, more liquid consistency and bears little resemblance to a Greek appetizer, more like a Bulgarian cold soup tarator.

A snack very similar to tzatziki exists in Iraq called mast-o-khiar, but it is prepared on the basis of local sour milk ayran.

A similar cucumber sauce is also made in India, where it is called rait.

But according to the majority of gourmets who managed to try the traditional Greek tzatziki, this particular dish has a special, unique and delicious taste and aroma.

Enticed by the simplicity of the recipe, many guests of Greece, returning from a trip, try to make tzatziki sauce at home, but few people get it the same as they tried it in.

The secret of real tzatziki is in its specially prepared yogurt, and of course, in, which the Greeks add to every dish.

Greek yogurt

Why is it useful

The peculiarity and difference of the Greek version of yogurt from others is that it is filtered to improve the density. It is called here - strangisto yaurti (στραγγιστό γιαούρτι), which means strained yogurt.

This product is a thick mass with a velvety texture, having an average consistency between all the usual yogurt and white cheese.

Retaining the aroma typical of yogurt, it has a very pleasant taste, not habitually sour, but, on the contrary, reminiscent of heavy cream or sour cream, but at the same time not greasy - only up to 10%.

Filtered yogurt also contains more protein and less sugar and carbohydrates thanks to filtering through special fabric filters, which deprives it of whey.

Greek yogurt belongs to the class of natural fermented milk products obtained by bacterial fermentation of milk. It is a rich source of not only protein, but also many trace elements: calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and zinc, as well as vitamins B, A and C.

Where is it used

For wonderful properties filtered Greek yogurt deservedly has the highest reputation in the world market, eclipsing many other brands of fermented milk products.
Its fame is also expanding due to the worldwide popularization of the Mediterranean or Cretan diet, where, of course, one of the leading roles is assigned to this product.

Regular consumers and famous culinary experts around the world prefer Greek yogurt for cooking low-calorie dishes, replacing them with the usual cream or sour cream, which contain much more fat.
At the same time, the taste of the dishes themselves not only does not deteriorate, but also acquires a special piquancy. And one more property of Greek yogurt is of great value for cooks - it does not shrink under high temperature while retaining its rich, creamy texture.

In any Greek supermarket or small grocery, bakery or pastry shop, there is always a strange yaurti or products based on it produced by major Greek companies such as FAGE, ΜΕΒΓΑΛ, ΟΛΥΜΠΟΣ.
They provide not only Greek consumers, but also have their offices in many European countries and in the USA.

In Greece, yogurt is used to make desserts and ice cream, and it is added to many sauces.
Locals start their day with yogurt combined with honey, nuts and fruits, and other healthy additions: various cereals, jams, syrups.
Many Greek dishes cannot be prepared without this wonderful product.

Well, there is no talk about tzadziki: it is prepared only on the basis of filtered yogurt made from sheep's or goat's milk. And of course, the better and more aromatic the yogurt, the tastier the dish.

Classic Tzatziki recipe - how it is prepared in Greece

Trust me, this appetizer is worth a try! It is very easy to prepare and low in calories, and at the same time it will be a great addition to any meat, fish or vegetable dish.

Even if you are on a diet or vegetarian diet, this sauce will be a delicious addition to the usual dishes, without spoiling your figure at all.

According to this recipe, you can cook tzatziki, just like it is done in Greek taverns.
But I will reveal one little secret here: how to use garlic in the sauce so that it does not emit a sharp and unloved smell by many.

To make Tzatziki you will need:

• 500 gr. unsweetened unleavened yogurt;
• 3-4 large cloves of garlic;
• 1 st. l. vinegar;
• 1 large cucumber or several small ones;
• 3/4 cup olive oil;
• salt to taste.

How we cook:

1. Grate a thoroughly washed cucumber on a coarse grater. If it has a rough peel, then it is better to pre-peel the cucumber.
2. Transfer the grated mass to a colander, after mixing it with salt, and squeeze it thoroughly so that all the juice comes out of the cucumber. This is necessary so that after adding the yogurt the mixture is viscous. If the juice was not squeezed well, the sauce will turn out watery..
3. Cut the garlic cloves in half and remove the green arrows from them. It is they who give any dish with garlic a sharp unpleasant odor.
4. Grind the garlic cloves in a wooden mortar, adding a few drops of olive oil and a little salt to them. The mass should be creamy.
5. And finally, put yogurt, squeezed cucumber mass, garlic, salt, vinegar (necessarily wine and no other), olive oil in a salad bowl.
6. Stir the mixture thoroughly. The sauce can be garnished with olives and a sprig of dill. Our tzatziki is ready.

In the summer, keep it in the refrigerator for a while., - it will become even tastier. Now it can be brought to the table.

Bon appetit everyone! Kali orexy!

Ekaterina Aravani spoke about the most popular sauce in Greece

Happy to welcome everyone again! Dear readers, today I want to offer you a recipe for making the original Greek tzatziki sauce. This cold sauce is very popular in its homeland and has gained popularity around the world.

Its unique taste will give your dishes a touch of piquant freshness, and cooking will take you a minimum of time! A classic recipe for tzatziki sauce with yogurt, photos will help you make an excellent dip sauce at home.

What do they eat it with? Tzatziki can be served as an accompaniment to fresh vegetables, meat or fish dishes.

What is good about this sauce? Firstly, many are attracted by the availability of its main ingredients and ease of preparation. Secondly, such a simple sauce goes well with many dishes; it is impossible to imagine gyros or souvlaki without it. Thirdly, tzatziki (sometimes called tsatsiki or jajik) can be presented to your guests as a separate dish.

Trust me, sometimes it's hard to put down a cracker or bread sticks paired with this Greek appetizer sauce. You can talk a lot, but it's better for you to be convinced of my words. We put on aprons and go to the kitchen!

Ingredients:

1. Fresh cucumber - 100 gr.

2. Thick Greek yogurt (sour cream) - 250 gr.

3. Garlic - 1 clove

4. Fresh herbs (mint, parsley) - 20 gr.

5. Lemon - 50 gr.

6. Salt, black ground pepper

Cooking method:

1. Squeeze a clove of garlic into a deep container and pour over lemon juice. This mixture needs to stand aside for a while so that the lemon and garlic can get enough of each other.

2. Now let's get on with the cucumber! I can offer you two ways to grind it: the classic Greek version on a coarse grater or a refined version with a knife cut (cube 2 * 2 mm). Please pay attention to the quality of fresh cucumber.

It sometimes has a coarse texture and is not well suited for making tzatziki. A young cucumber with a soft skin is ideal. But if you come across a hard vegetable, then you will have to remove the rough skin from it and remove the seeds from the core with a spoon.

3. Grind the greens with a kitchen knife. I prefer to buy all the greens on the market, since such products from the supermarket do not have such a pronounced aroma, taste and beneficial properties. What greens do you take and where?

I have to buy it in stores only in winter, content with a "greenhouse" substitute. And with the onset of the warm season, the choice definitely falls on real greenery, which is sold on the market.

4. It's time to mix everything up! Pour thick Greek yogurt into a deep bowl with garlic and lemon (sour cream tzatziki will also taste impeccable).

5. Then add greens

7. Salt the resulting sauce and mix thoroughly. Congratulations, our tzatziki is ready!

Try it and you will feel all the tenderness and freshness of Greece! A great option would be if you let the prepared appetizer sauce stand for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.

This will greatly enhance its taste and aroma. You can play with the main ingredients: replace parsley with dill, use kefir instead of yogurt.

These experiments may help you get the most suitable taste! Bon appetit!

Dear readers! Your opinion about all the dishes that I offer you is very important to me! Did you like this recipe? Have you made this sauce before? Or do you have your own proven method for making tzatziki?

Feel free to post your comments at the end of the article. Do you have any questions about this recipe? I will gladly answer all your questions. Looking forward to your comments! See you soon!

The popular Greek sauce is called as soon as: tzatziki, tsatsyki, tzatsyki, but this does not change its taste at all and continues to delight lovers of creamy-garlic flavor with hints of greenery. In any self-respecting restaurant or cafe, you can always find such a dish on the menu.

This cool can be served both as a sauce and as a separate appetizer, which the Greeks themselves prefer to soak with freshly baked bread. "Tzatziki" is served immediately after cooking, as cucumbers can release juice and exfoliate yogurt. The most ideal side dish for him will be boiled potato dishes.

Compound

• 1 jar plain yogurt
• 1-2 fresh cucumbers
• 2 sl olive or vegetable oil
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• 3 pinches of salt
• 0.5 bunch of dill

Cooking

1. Rinse cucumbers in water. If you like the delicate taste of the sauce, then peel the vegetables with a vegetable peeler. Rinse them and grate on a coarse grater.

2. Peel the garlic cloves and squeeze them through a press into the cucumber mass.

3. Rinse half a bunch of dill and chop it with a knife, pouring it into a bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

4. Pour in salt and pour in oil. Instead of olive oil, you can use vegetable, sunflower and even sesame oil.

5. Pour in the yogurt. It should be classic - no additives. The ideal option is homemade yogurt, which was prepared by oneself, but it will be successfully replaced by Activia, which fills the store shelves with dairy products.

6. Mix all the ingredients and put the prepared Tzatziki sauce into a gravy boat for serving.

7. Serve with meat, fish and vegetable dishes.

Note to the owner

1. The original taste shade will appear in "Tzatziki" if you take lightly salted cucumber instead of fresh cucumber. The amount of salt then needs to be slightly reduced.

2. Surely the housewives noticed: finely chopped greens turn out to be crumbly and therefore are evenly distributed in the sauce only when they are not wet. This means that a bunch of dill should be washed long before the culinary process - let it dry properly.

3. In some Greek restaurants, "Dzadziki" is served in portions - to each guest, and they put a thick aromatic mass inside a round bun made of coarse flour, after removing some of the pulp. While a person eats the main dish and gradually consumes the sauce, the bread crust is soaked, softened, saturated with garlic and dill flavor. It should be savored at the end of dinner, washed down with wine.

4. It is worth trying out this recipe: put large slices of boiled fish without bones in a flat-bottomed vessel, sprinkle them with lemon zest and basil, then pour plenty of Tzatziki. Its layer should be thick, about 5 cm. Keep half a day in the refrigerator. It takes little time to prepare this dish, and the result will be amazing.

5. If dietary yogurt is used as the basis for the sauce, you can add a dessert spoon of heavy cream to it. Of course, the calorie content of the finished product will slightly increase, but the taste will become more tender.

The popular Greek sauce Tzatziki, as soon as we don’t call it “tzatziki”, “tzatziki”, and “tzatziki” is not the point. But if you have tried this appetizer at least once, it has certainly become one of your favorites. You can just spread it on bread, it will turn out very satisfying. And serve with meat, fish, vegetables. And because it's usually chilled before serving, this Greek sauce is great for refreshing in the summer heat.

Adapted Greek Tzatziki Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

• cucumbers - 2 pcs.;
• sour cream (fat content not less than 20%) - 200 g;
• cottage cheese - 100 g;
• garlic - 4 cloves;
• olive oil - 2 tbsp. spoons;
• lemon juice - 1/2 tbsp. spoons;
• salt - to taste.

Cooking

Real Greek yogurt - very thick and fatty (usually made from goat's or sheep's milk) is unfortunately not sold in our stores. It remains only to find an adequate replacement for him. It can be a mixture of fatty sour cream with cottage cheese. Sour cream can also be replaced with ordinary unsweetened yogurt, which is placed in gauze folded several times and hung for several hours to remove excess liquid. If you don’t want to mess around like that, just buy ready-made curd “Activia”. As you can see, there are plenty of options.

We will mix cottage cheese and sour cream into a homogeneous mass and add garlic, olive oil and lemon juice, passed through a press, to it. We clean the cucumbers from the rough skin, rub on a grater and squeeze lightly through gauze. By the way, we do not throw away the released juice, but use it for cosmetic purposes. You can freeze it and wipe your face with these cubes - it perfectly tones the skin!

We combine the cucumbers with the bulk, salt to taste. We spread the finished sauce in a salad bowl. It can be garnished with a sprig of oregano or mint leaves, olives and black olives.

Recipe for Greek Tzatziki Sauce with Cucumber Yogurt

Ingredients:

• cucumber - 1 pc.;
• Greek yogurt - 400 g;
• garlic - 2 cloves;
• grape vinegar - 1 tbsp. spoon;
• olive oil - 4 tbsp. spoons;
• dill - 1 bunch;
• salt, ground white pepper - to taste.

Cooking

We clean the cucumber from the skin, remove the seeds and rub it on a fine grater. Salt and leave for 10 minutes, then drain the excess liquid and mix with yogurt. Add the garlic passed through the press, olive oil, vinegar, chopped herbs and pepper. Mix everything well and refrigerate. After 2 hours, real Greek sauce can be served at the table.