Tzatziki
Template:Short description Template:RedirectTemplate:Pp-sock Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox food Tzatziki (Template:Langx Template:IPA), also known as cacık (Template:IPA) or tarator, is a class of dip, soup, or sauce found in the cuisines of Southeastern Europe and West Asia. It is made of salted strained yogurt or diluted yogurt<ref name="tdk.gov.tr">Template:Cite web</ref> mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, red wine vinegar, sometimes with lemon juice, and herbs such as dill, mint, parsley and thyme.<ref name="Kochilas">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Grigson 2007 239–40">Template:Cite book</ref> It is served as a cold appetiser (meze), a side dish, and as a sauce for souvlaki and gyros sandwiches and other foods.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Etymology
The word tzatziki appeared in English around the mid-20th century as a loanword from Modern Greek (Template:Lang), which in turn comes from the Turkish word Template:Lang.<ref>Georgios Babiniotis, Babiniotis Dictionary</ref><ref>Triantafyllidis Dictionary, University of Thessaloniki</ref> The root is likely related to several words in West Asian languages. Persian Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang) refers to various herbs used for cooking, and Kurdish jaj or ژاژ refers to the caraway herb.<ref name="Nisanyan">Template:Cite web</ref> That word is combined with the Turkish diminutive suffix -cık to yield cacık. It may be related to an Armenian word, cacıg.<ref name=Razuvajeva>Template:Cite journal</ref> According to Sevan Nişanyan the Armenian word may itself come from Turkish or Kurdish.<ref name="Nisanyan"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Evliya Çelebi's 1665 travelogue, the Seyahatnâme, defined cacıχ (cacıg) as a kind of herb that is added to food.<ref name="Nisanyan" /> The modern term cacık (جاجیك) was mentioned in print for the first time in 1844 in Hoca Kâmil Pasha's Melceü't-Tabbâhîn (The Sanctuary of Cooks), the first Ottoman cookbook, in which the basic description is given as "yogurt with cucumber and garlic" (hıyar ve sarmısaklı yoğurt).<ref name="Nisanyan" />
The form tarator, found in languages from the Balkans to the Levant with derivative forms now found in a range of countries.<ref name="EtyDict">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Andriotis et al., Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης, Λεξικό της κοινής Νεοελληνικής s.v. ταρατόρι</ref><ref>E. Saussey, Les mots turcs dans le dialect arabe de Damas, Mélanges de l'Institut français de Damas 1 (1929), p. 84, 127</ref>
According to Sevan Nişanyan, the name tarator (sauce) comes into Turkish directly from the Venetian word "trattor". In Venetian, this word means "cook". It has acquired the meaning of a type of sauce in Turkish. It has likely been borrowed from Turkish into other languages. The first use of this word in the sense of sauce was in the book Seyehatname by the Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi.<ref>[1] Nişanyan Dictionary "tarator"</ref>
History
Tzatziki and similar yogurt-based dishes trace their origins to the Central Asian yogurt culture, which spread to Anatolia, the Balkans, and the Middle East through Turkic migrations. Turks had consumed yogurt since ancient times and introduced yogurt-based cold soups and sauces to Anatolia.<ref name="Yerasimos2002">Template:Cite book</ref>
During the Ottoman Empire, yogurt and garlic condiments became a part of the meze tradition. One notable example was tarator, prepared with yogurt, cucumber, garlic, or sometimes walnuts. The 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi, in his Seyahatname, described dishes made with yogurt and garlic, demonstrating their established place in Ottoman cuisine.<ref name="Celebi1660">Template:Cite book</ref>
In the Balkans and the Levant, variations of tarator developed with different bases: in the Levant it is usually made with tahini, while in the Balkans it may include yogurt and walnuts. In Anatolia, however, the version made with yogurt, cucumber, garlic, and sometimes walnuts became known as cacık.<ref name="Marks2010">Template:Cite book</ref>
Today, cacık is widely consumed in Turkey as a refreshing dish, especially in summer, while related versions continue to exist in Balkan and Levantine cuisines.<ref name="Davidson2014">Template:Cite book</ref>
Variations
Greece
Greek-style tzatziki sauce is commonly served as a meze, to be eaten with pita bread, olives, fried eggplant, zucchini, or other vegetables.<ref>Fodor's Greek Islands, 2011, s.v. Skopelos</ref> It is also used for dishes like gyros, or souvlaki and most other greek dishes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Regular tzatziki is made of strained yogurt (usually from sheep or goat milk) mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, vinegar, dill, mint, and parsley.<ref name="Kochilas"/>
A variation made with purslane (Template:Transliteration in Greek) may be called Template:Transliteration, meaning 'purslane and yogurt salad', rather than tzatziki. One simple recipe calls for purslane, olive oil, red wine vinegar and dill.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> There also is a version where walnut oil, crushed nuts (like walnuts, hazelnuts, or almonds) and red peppers are added to the standard yoghurt base.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Turkey
Turkish cacık is made by combining water and yogurt together with garlic and different combinations of vegetables and herbs. Labne may be substituted for some of the yogurt.<ref name=almond>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref name="buzlu">Template:Cite web</ref>
Turkish cacik also has many variations; different recipes use wheat berries, carrots, scallions, mint, radish, red pepper, parsley, dill, basil, chondrilla juncea, vinegar, walnuts, hazelnuts and unripe almonds.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="balkan">Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="buzlu" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="almond" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
For cacıklı arap köftesi, kofta made from a mix of bulgur and ground meat is served over cacık. In this case the cacık is made with chard rather than the usual cucumber (spinach or parsley may be substituted for the chard. Some recipes use purslane).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Bulgurlu madımak cacığı is made with cracked wheat, cucumber and a type of knotweed called madımak.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Balkans
Tarator is found in many Balkan countries. It is often prepared as a cold soup, popular in the summer. It is made of yogurt, cucumber, garlic, walnut, dill, vegetable oil, and water, and is served chilled or even with ice. Local variations may replace yogurt with water and vinegar, omit nuts or dill, or add bread. The cucumbers may on rare occasions be replaced with lettuce or carrots.
A thicker variation is sometimes known as "dry tarator", or as Snezhanka salad, which means 'Snow White salad', and is served as an appetiser or side dish. During preparation, the yogurt is hung for several hours in a kerchief and loses about half of its water. The cucumbers, garlic, minced walnuts, salt and vegetable oil are then added.
In Bulgaria, tarator is a popular meze (appetiser), but is also served as a side dish along with Shopska salad with some meals. Sunflower oil and olive oil are more commonly used, and the walnuts are sometimes omitted. Tarator is seasoned with garlic and dill, both of which can be omitted. It is a popular dish in Bulgaria and a common refresher during the summer.
In Albania, tarator is a very popular dish in the summertime. It is usually served cold and is normally made from yogurt, garlic, parsley, cucumber, salt and olive oil. Fried squid is often offered with tarator. Other similar Albanian variants are Salcë Kosi and Xaxiq.
Cyprus
In Cyprus, the dish is known as Template:Lang ("talattouri")<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and is similar to the Greek recipe with a more characteristic flavour of mint and added acidity in the form of lemon juice.<ref name="mygreekdish.com">Template:Cite web</ref>
It is made from strained yogurt, sliced cucumbers, minced garlic cloves, lemon juice and sprinkled with dried mint, oregano or olive oil.<ref name="mygreekdish.com"/>
Middle East
In Iraq, jajeek is often served as meze.<ref name="Marks 2010">Template:Cite book</ref> It may accompany alcoholic drinks, especially arak, an ouzo-like drink made from anise. In Iran, it is known as mast o khiar.<ref name="Marks 2010"/>
In some parts of the Arab world, it is known as Template:Lang, salaṭat ḵiyār bi-l-laban, made from yogurt and cucumbers.<ref name="Marks 2010" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Similar dishes
Template:Unreferenced section A similar dish in the Caucasus mountains, called ovdukh, uses kefir instead of the yogurt. This can be poured over a mixture of vegetables, eggs and ham to create a variation of okroshka, sometimes referred to as a "Caucasus okroshka".
Mizeria is a Polish dish of sliced cucumbers mixed with sour cream or another fermented milk product, often herbs (such as dill or chives) and seasonings, which is commonly served as a savoury or sweet side salad with typical dinner dishes.
In South Asia, a similar dish is made with yogurt, cucumber, salt and ground cumin (sometimes also including onions) called "raita".
In Iran, ash-e doogh is another type of yogurt soup; instead of cucumbers it contains a variety of herbs such as basil, leek, mint, black pepper and raisins. In this style, sometimes dried bread chips, chopped nuts or raisins are put in the dish just before serving.
See also
Template:Portal Template:Div col
- Cold borscht
- List of dairy products
- List of dips
- List of hors d'oeuvre
- List of yogurt-based dishes and beverages
References
Template:Cuisine of Turkey Template:Yogurts Template:Cuisine of Greece Template:Cuisine of Iran Template:Levantine cuisine Template:Soups