Tarator

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Bulgarian tarator

Tarator (Bulgarian Cyrillic: таратор, also called таратур in Macedonian) is a cold soup (or a liquid salad), popular in the summertime in Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia. It is made from yoghurt, cucumbers, garlic, nuts, dill, vegetable oil, and water. It is best served chilled or even with ice. Local variations replace yoghurt with water and vinegar, omit nuts or add bread. The cucumbers may on very rare occasions be replaced with lettuce or carrots.

Tarator is eaten with a spoon, either as a soup before the main dish, or as a salad with the main meal.

The Turkish variation of tarator is similar, but has a rich consistency and is served as a meze. On the south coast of Turkey, it is served with fried squid and includes yoghurt, lemon, walnut, olive oil, bread and garlic.

In Iran, a variation on tarator exists under the name Maast-O-Khiar. This contains chopped onions as opposed to garlic and may also contain black pepper and raisins.

Tarator is also consumed in Albania in almost the same manner it is consumed in other countries. However, water, nuts, fruits and dill aren't used. Vegetable oil is often substituted with olive oil. In a different variation, this dish is enriched with a plain omelet, cut into little pieces and added to the mixture. Due to the richness the eggs add, this variation of Tarator may be consumed as a main course

[edit] Recipe

To prepare tarator you need 1 cucumber, about 1/2 kilogram of Bulgarian yoghurt, water, several cloves of garlic, several nuts, some dill, salt, vegetable oil of your choice, several drops of vinegar.

Preparation: Mash the garlic with salt and then add to it grated or finely chopped cucumber. Add these to a large bowl and pour in the yoghurt. Then gradualy add water - the thickness is down to taste and also depends on how flavourful the yogurt you are using is and its fat content. Finally add finely chopped walnuts and fresh dill as well as a couple of tea spoons of oil (sunflower oil is typically used). There is a type of tarator known as 'suh tarator', or dry tarator, which is prepared with very thick yoghurt, without adding water. This is also sometimes called 'snezhanka' (Снежанка) salad, meaning Snow White, as in the fairy tale. This is however a modern name for the meze dish.