Latest news with #tzatziki
New York Times
09-07-2025
- General
- New York Times
A Tzatziki With More Heft and Punch
Last summer in Germersheim, a small German town, I tasted some of the best tzatziki I ever had. At Sto Kastro, a Greek restaurant along the Rhine, the garlicky yogurt sauce was a mere dollop on a much larger gyro plate loaded with fries, yet it carried the dish, as good tzatziki is wont to do. Each bite refreshed the palate, letting me eat more of the rich lamb and potatoes. What made the sauce special, too, was its clean cucumber flavor and smooth, thick texture, the way it sat on the plate rather than pooled. It was totally different from other tzatzikis I'd eaten in America and in Greece, where my fiancé and I traveled next for a friend's wedding. Recipe: Tangy Tzatziki According to Ursula Heinzelmann, a German food writer and historian, tzatziki is a relatively recent arrival to Germany. In the mid-1950s, to fill a labor shortage, Germany started recruiting workers from neighboring countries. They would go on to open döner stands, Italian pizzerias, Balkan grills and Greek tavernas, restaurants that became fixtures, especially in smaller towns where there wasn't much variety. My fiancé, who grew up near Germersheim in the 1990s, was raised on the occasional spread of moussaka and tzatziki cooked by his German mother, who frequented those tavernas as a child. For years, he assumed tzatziki was German. During our weeklong stay in this southeastern part of rural Germany, I saw tzatziki at every backyard barbecue. Where there was a grill, there was tzatziki. You could also buy it at any big-box supermarket. But unless you're desperately strapped for time, I implore you to make it yourself at home, from scratch, not least because the recipe is so simple and tastes best fresh. That curious but stellar tzatziki in Germersheim inspired this version, which lets the cucumber and yogurt shine. All you need are garlic, cucumbers and Greek yogurt. (I'll assume you already have salt and vinegar on hand.) You don't need me to tell you that for such a pared-down dish, each ingredient doesn't just count — it's the difference between the ordinary and the ethereal. Greek-style strained yogurt is essential, and the higher the fat content, the better the dairy flavor. When the journalist and food writer Aglaia Kremezi was growing up in Athens in the late 1960s, a yogurt man (akin to a milkman) would deliver fresh, local sheep and goat's milk yogurt right to her door. Back then, she says, you had to strain your own yogurt for dishes like tzatziki, because mass-produced strained 'Greek' yogurt wasn't as readily available. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Telegraph
14-05-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Turkish gözleme
I've only ever eaten gözleme (stuffed flatbread) from street stalls in Turkey and thought it might be hard to make, but the dough is a cinch (and doesn't require yeast). Hold on to the recipe and cook it to go with Mediterranean dishes. You can use all sorts of fillings (including lamb), but herbs are a must. I always serve it with tzatziki or plain yoghurt with crushed garlic. Requires resting time. Overview Prep time 35 mins Cook time 45 mins Serves 6 Ingredients For the filling 2½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil ½ medium onion, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced 300g potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks 300g spinach leaves, finely chopped ½ tsp pul biber 400g feta, crumbled 15g dill, chopped 15g parsley, chopped For the dough 475g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing and brushing 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt Method Step For the filling, heat 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil in a frying pan. Add ½ finely chopped medium onion and sauté until soft but not coloured, about 5 minutes. Add 2 finely sliced garlic cloves and cook for 2 minutes more. Place in a mixing bowl and leave to cool. Step Boil 300g potatoes (peeled and chopped into chunks) until tender, about 12 minutes, then drain. Roughly chop the chunks, season and add to the bowl with the onion. Step Add 1½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, along with 300g finely chopped spinach leaves, ½ tsp pul biber, 400g crumbled feta, 15g chopped dill and 15g chopped parsley. Season and set aside. Step For the dough, put 475g plain flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add 250ml lukewarm water, 3 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt. Pull everything together until you form a dough. Step On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until it's smooth, about 5 minutes. Put it into a bowl, drizzle with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil, and turn the dough over in it. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes. Step Divide the dough into 8 equal balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each one into a circle about 25cm across. Spread some filling on one half of each circle, leaving a 2-2½cm rim around the edge. Wet the rim with water and fold the other half of the circle over the top. Press the edges together to seal. Lightly flatten to get rid of excess air and put under a clean tea towel. Step Heat a frying pan – or 2, if you have them – until smoking. Keep the heat high as you cook the gözleme, and flip each one over time and again until they're golden and charred in patches on both sides, about 3 minutes in total. When they're cooked, brush each side with olive oil. Step Put the cooked gözleme in the oven on a low heat until you've finished all of them. Cut them into 2-3 wedges to serve.
