16 Mar 2021
People call it a dip, salad, paste, sauce; they say the name is Turkish, Persian… plenty wrote about it philosophizing, searching for its origin, from India to N. Africa and the Balkans!
The whole world has talked about it; food writers have voiced their opinions, and even had arguments over it… all for a simple “dip”. You can find more than 80 different recipes on the net. Does anyone really care?
Tzatziki is Greek, no other country can claim the most famous Greek food in the world (it’s a few centuries older than Greek Mousaka)!!!
The Ottoman Empire, ruled over Greece from the 16th century until World War 1. During this period, it was mandatory to give Turkish names to all Greek foods; hence many Greek dishes still have names of Turkish origin. That’s all; the rest is just small talk.
Tzatziki made Greek yogurt famous, and gave life to the tasteless cucumber. More garlic is used in Greece to make Tzatziki, than any other dish in our cuisine. There is no order given in a restaurant without saying “vale kai ena tzatzikaki”. There would be no gyros without it, no fried zucchini and no lamb on the spit without a side order of TZATZIKI. Gourmet restaurants have made it into a “foam” or “ice cream”.