Tarator
Таратор·(tah-rah-TOR)
The Meze Table & Summer Salads
A standard box grater, a tub of whole-milk yogurt, and crisp cucumbers sit on the counter. On a 90-degree Tuesday evening, this cold soup cuts through the afternoon heat. It demands no heat, no specialized equipment, and zero culinary pretense. Shred the cucumbers, mince raw garlic, chop walnuts for a dull crunch, and whisk the yogurt and cold water until the fat foams. Pour it into a bowl, eat it immediately, and let the ice cubes clink.
Before you start
Never grate the cucumbers.
Grating turns the soup into a mushy, watery slush. Take the time to practice your knife skills and finely dice them into tiny, uniform cubes to preserve the crucial crunch.
Seed standard American cucumbers if necessary.
If you cannot find thin-skinned Persian or English cucumbers, you must peel standard slicing cucumbers, slice them in half lengthwise, and scoop out the watery seeds with a spoon before dicing.
Ingredients
- Persian cucumbers2 large
- garlic cloves3 small
- kosher salt1 tsp
- fresh dill1/3 cup
- sunflower oil or extra-virgin olive oil3 tbsp
- walnuts1/3 cup
- plain whole milk yogurt2 cup
- filtered water1 1/2 cup
Method
- 01
Macerate the aromatics to build an emulsion.
Place the diced cucumbers in a large mixing bowl along with the crushed garlic, chopped dill, walnuts, kosher salt, and oil, tossing vigorously until the vegetables are entirely coated. Mixing the oil with the solids first cures the cucumbers and emulsifies the fat, preventing an unappetizing oil slick from floating on top of your final soup.
- 02
Whisk the yogurt until perfectly smooth.
In a separate medium bowl, pour in the plain yogurt and beat it vigorously with a whisk or fork until it is completely fluid and free of any chalky lumps. Doing this before introducing water is the only way to avoid a broken, grainy texture.
- 03
Combine and dilute into a soup.
Pour the smoothed yogurt over the cucumber mixture and stir to combine. Gradually pour in the cold water, whisking continuously, until you reach a thin, drinkable consistency.
- 04
Chill aggressively and serve.
Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator for at least one hour to let the raw garlic and dill permeate the dairy. Serve exceptionally cold in small bowls or drinking glasses, garnished with a few drops of oil, a sprinkle of walnuts, and, on a truly brutal day, an ice cube dropped straight in.
Notes
Manage the yogurt's tang.
True Bulgarian yogurt gets its distinct bite from Lactobacillus bulgaricus. If your American supermarket yogurt is too mild, stir in half a teaspoon of white vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice to mimic that authentic tartness.
Choose your oil wisely.
While extra-virgin olive oil is perfectly acceptable, a true Bulgarian cook reaches for cold-pressed, unrefined sunflower oil. Its slightly nutty flavor is the quickest route back to an Eastern European village kitchen.
Watch the garlic clock.
Raw garlic blooms and intensifies as it sits in liquid. If you are making this soup several hours ahead of time, drop down to two cloves to avoid it blowing out your palate by dinner.