‘Dip’ it Greek Style: Skordalia & Tzatziki
I will forever be indebted to the hostess at the Moma Rest & Cafe on Adrianou Street, Athens, who introduced me to the wonderful union of Greek dips and freshly baked pita bread. Thank you!
It was a ‘perfect’ moment as I sampled the freshly baked warm pita bread dunked in cool tzatziki, my senses doing a jig in delight at the refreshing flavours. And then there was the silky fava dip, so unassuming in appearance yet filled with flavour. Watching the world go by from the corner table on that April evening, I was yet again reminded of my mother’s cooking mantra “simple works wonders.”
The tzatziki is a yogurt-based dip that packs a punch with some dill/mint seasoning while the fava dip, simply put, is pureed lentil.
Several months later, I could not get the flavours of these two beautiful dips out of my taste palette’s memory. This translated into an attempt to recreate the flavours of Greece at home, with my limited experience.
Getting the ingredients for tzatziki was easy-peasy. I did fumble majorly with the fava dip, bringing to light the urgent need for some lentil identification lessons. You see, as per all the recipes that I perused, fava dip is made of fava beans which can be substituted with yellow split peas. And I merrily kept thinking red lentils are yellow split peas! Duh uh…
Now you would say this isn’t any big deal. But it is because yellow split peas are not easily available where I live.
Luckily for me, a friend, who had travelled to Greece a few years ago and spend a few weeks there asked me to try out the skordalia. “Look it up, Rapti. You will love this dip. Especially since you have never found a potato you do not love!” she laughed.
Holy moly was she right! This is a delight for all those who love garlic. Seasoned simply with a generous dose of garlic, lemon and olive oil, skordalia has zoomed to the ‘love this’ list of my parents too!
Do let me know if you make either of these dips in the comments section below. If you post a photo on Instagram, tag (and follow) From The Corner Table. You can also follow the blog on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest; subscribe to be a part of the mailing list for regular updates.
