Cacik

Cacik is a traditional Turkish cucumber and yogurt dish that is very similar to tzatziki. It can be served as a side dish, a dipping sauce, or a soup if thinned out a touch. I decided to make a soup version of this to use up a bunch of cucumbers from my garden when I had a surplus.

This is an easy soup to make, and it's perfect for the dog days of summer. I added a couple of techniques to this to make the flavors a bit more robust.

*Please note, that the salt in the recipe isn't directly added to the soup. I had a comment about the amount of salt in this recipe, but the person didn't leave a way to communicate. I hope they read this again, and understand that the salt is just an initial step for the cucumbers, not added to the soup itself. You squeeze out the salt and liquid from the cucumbers so they aren't quite so strong. If they are still to strong for your palate, you can rinse them off. For me, and for the people I made this soup for, it was not too much.

One of the first things I did was curing the cucumbers. After I peeled and chopped them, I salted them, then squeezed them out to remove the salt and liquid. I used the liquid to thin out the soup once I pureed the cucumbers with the garlic and yogurt. Because of this I used very little salt in the soup directly, but indirectly seasoned it first. Another addition I made to this was to add Szechuan pepper. Szechuan pepper has a very soft floral flavor that I find compliments a lot of lighter soups.

Another step that is very important, is to puree the soup prior to adding your herbs. You can do it after, but the end result will be a greener soup, as opposed to an herb loaded bright white soup.

This is also a great recipe for a dip. It's extremely similar to tzatziki, though when I make tzatziki I do normally grate the cucumbers and garlic then start the process. If you want to turn this into a quick dip, puree the base to your liking prior to thinning it out.

Enjoy.

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Ingredients

• Greek Yogurt, full fat 1 qt

• Scallions, sliced (greens & whites separated) 1 bunch

• Dill 4 sprigs

• Mint 2 sprigs

• Basil 1 sprig

• Lemon, zested and juiced 1 ea

• Garlic, minced 4 cloves

• Chili Pepper (or crushed red pepper) 1 ea

• Water 1 qt, as needed

• Szechuan pepper, toasted and ground 2 tsp

• Cucumbers, peeled and chopped 2 lbs

• Salt 4 T, to cure cucumbers

• Salt to taste

• Pepper to taste

Garnish

dill springs, extra virgin olive oil

Method of Procedure

1. Peel and chop your cucumbers

2. Take you scallion whites and add them to the cucumbers with your garlic, chili flakes, and 4 T of salt. Mix thoroughly and let sit for at least an hour.

3. Over a bowl, grab a handful of the cucumbers and scallions then squeeze out the liquid. Place the pressed cucumber mixture into a separate bowl and repeat until all the cucumbers are pressed. Reserve the liquid for later

4. Add your lemon zest and juice, pepper (Szechuan and regular), yogurt, and some of the liquid from the cucumbers. Puree until smooth.

5. Add your water and strained liquid until you've reached your desired consistency. Make sure not to add it all at once, so you can control the salt level, and well as the thickness of the soup.

6. If you add too much liquid and it becomes watery, you can adjust by adding more yogurt or more cucumbers.

7. Lastly add your scallion greens and roughly chopped herbs. Lightly puree so as to mix, but not blend the herbs into the soup.

8. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

9. Place into a bowl and garnish with dill sprigs and extra virgin olive oil.