FFwD: Tzatziki and Graffiti

This week´s recipe for the French Friday´s with Dorie group is Tzatziki.

Tzatziki is a classic meze dish consisting of that very popular thick Greek yoghurt, cucumber, garlic and mint. There are many variants of this recipe, today´s recipe is Dorie´s take on it.

In addition to the traditional ingredients, this recipe calls for some freshly squeezed lemon juice, olive oil, fresh dill, mint (which I always omit) and freshly ground white pepper.

Since the pronounciation of the word "Tzatziki" sounds similar to "Graffiti" (at least the way we pronounce those words in this country), the idea was born to take pictures of these two things together. Simple as that. No olives, no pita triangles, no store bought stuffed grape leaves next to a bowl of this omninpresent Greek yoghurt dip/sauce that you find on the shelves in every single store and on the menue of many everyday (fast) food restaurant here. Not that we do not like these lovely things, I just did not feel inspired.

So we went to the park where the City of Bonn built a wall that is expressly meant for spray-painting, these are not pictures of private houses or buildings - just a wall in a parc, meant for that purpose and that pupose only.

Tzatziki makes a very nice condiment for gyros or kebabs. And it goes very well with pork or lamb.

It is also very nice served as a dip or as a perfect accompaniment to fish, lamb burgers, spanakopita or grilled halloumi.

When I made the Tzatziki yesterday, we enjoyed it with grilled Salmon Burgers on Whole Wheat Buns and I loaded it with finely chopped cucumbers and fresh dill and we loved it that way…

…but today I just served it as a dip for some summer tomatoes – and I made a somewhat toned down version and, yes, the second time I prepared this, I did omit some of Dorie´s ingredients simply because it was one of the hottest days of the year today. It was so hot that the relentless sun even melted part of the Autobahn that leads to the Frankfurt Airport.

There is no reason to buy bland, watery Tzatziki when making your own is so simple.

The second set of pictures I took in the same parK but this time the graffiti is on a privately owned Skating Ramp (not any walls of sprayed houses either) that was meant to be spray painted.- for more information, you are welcome to take a look at the facebook page mentioned at the end of this post.

For creamy Tzatziki with perfect consistency you need to avoid any excess water. The best result is achieved by peeling and de-seeding the cucumber. Then either grate of finely slice (with a vegetable peeler) or cube and hang the cucumber in a cloth or a tea towel to squeeze out all excess liquid.You can also squeeze out any liquid by squeezing the grated cucumber in a ricer (a little trick I recently learned).

Then all is left to do us to combine the thick (preferably) Greek yogurt with the cucumber, lemon juice, dill and garlic. Add a dash of olive oil and some salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Greek yogurt is widely available in stores around here, so I never really use anything else but that for Tzatziki.

Cover with wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least two hours for all the flavors to fully develop. Optional: just before serving take a bunch of fresh dill sprigs and decorate the top.

To see what my fellow Doristas thought about this “Tzatziki”, do click here.

For more information on the Skating Ramp, please click here.

Dedication: This post is meant as a dedication to three very very important people in my life that I miss terribly! You know who you are!

Caveat: As an internationally trained lawyer, I certainly do not condone spray painting buildings or other persons private property but I appreciate graffiti art when it is confined to areas specifically designed for it.