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Tzatziki is a Greek sauce made with Greek yoghurt and cucumber. My version, which in French I call it à la française, uses a French light cheese called fromage blanc but you can also make it with Greek yoghurt with 0% or 2% fat. This light version is healthier and always very good!
It’s a Greek sauce all right, even if its name suggest that it might be Japanese :) It’s fresh and this make it an excellent aperitif with bread and raw veggies but also as a sauce for grilled meat. Try this light version and you will not be disappointed; even Greeks find it splendid! In two words:“… he comes forward fearless like the night”.
difficulty – easy
preparation– 5’
cooking - N/A
serves - 2
Ingredients
- 150gr of Greek yoghurt (0% or 2% fat) or if in France fromage blanc (from sheep or 0%)
- 1/3 of a big cucumber
- 1 teaspoon of olive oil
- ½ teaspoon of Xérès vinegar (or any other red wine vinegar)
- ¼ of a big clove of garlic
- 2 pinches of fleur de sel or coarse salt
- 4 tours du moulin de Kampot black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon of dill (*)
For disgorging cucumber
- 1 + ½ pinches of fleur de sel or coarse salt
Steps
- Peel the cucumber
- Grate roughly the cucumber
- Add the salt for disgorging
- Leave it for 3’
- Press well the cucumber between your hands in order to disgorge its water and throw the water away
- Add the cucumber into the yoghurt or the fromage blanc and stir with a teaspoon
- Press the garlic and add it to the mix yoghurt (or fromage blanc)/cucumber
- Add the olive oil, the vinegar, salt and pepper
- Stir with a teaspoon
- Serve with bread or raw veggies but also with grilled meat; it’s also excellent as a side dish to enjoy with eggplants "Imam Bayildi"
What’s the story behind this recipe?
The tzatziki is a very well-known sauce in Greece: ) it’s name is τζατζίκι and it’s made with Greek yoghurt. Nevertheless, I could not use the Greek yoghurt in France because it was very high in fat; so I tried to find alternatives and I discovered that the French light cheese called fromage blanc had a striking resemblance to light Greek yoghurt we have in Greece in both taste and texture.
So I created the French version of tzatziki that evolved with time as I started using sheepfromage blanc, which is a bit heavier in fat, but it’s the best! For the ultra-light version of tzatziki you can use Greek yoghurt with 0% or 2% of fat, the result is really good even without a lot of fat :) the secret is the seasoning!
(*) It’s funny but when I made the recipe I forgot to add dill which is quite strange because I love dill :) sometimes our mind is quite strange! Nevertheless, I made the recipe again and added dill to calibrate it and to be honest with myself :) If you don’t like dill you can discard it :)
o-o C'est si bon ! o-o
