Cacık is another fantastic side dish that we have in our cuisine. Yogurt, water, cucumber, and garlic are the main ingredients of Cacık. It is the best wingman of the most main dishes in Turkish cuisine. For centuries we loved to prepare and consume Cacık. In Turkey, some restaurants offer Cacık as a meze and some offer it as a side dish. Some restaurants don’t even charge money for it.
In my perspective, if you prepare it only with yogurt and other ingredients without any drop of water, then we can consider it as meze. Because it becomes so dense. However; if you include water in it then it becomes Cacık. I think this is the most obvious difference that we can consider Cacık as a side dish instead of meze. In any case, it will come to the table for sure. It always comes.
The Story of Cacık
First of all, Turks love to eat Cacık because its main ingredient is Yogurt. Yogurt has inherited from ancient nomadic Turks. In my earlier posts, I already mentioned that the Turks were living with animal husbandry. If your life is depending on animal husbandry, it is very easy for you to access animal products such as milk and egg and make good and healthy food.
To make Cacık you need Yogurt and to make Yogurt you need Milk. So this heritage still continues in Turkey and sometimes we make our own Yogurt by ourselves instead of buying it from the supermarket. My mother makes delicious Yogurt and usually has it most of the time. So, when I visit her, I can able to eat home make Yogurt.
Today, animal husbandry is changed and big companies are producing Yogurt in Turkey. Modern World Cacık tastes like a cream; however, if you have a chance to make it with homemade Yogurt then it tastes like something special. So I am strongly recommending to you make your Cacık with homemade yogurt. Ask your grandmother, she definitely knows how to make homemade yogurt.
Cacık
Ingredients
- 4 cup plain yogurt
- 2 cup cold water
- 3 cucumber
- 3 clove garlic crush them with garlic crusher
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 pinch dill chopped
- 8 fresh mint leaves
Instructions
-
Place the yogurt to the bowl and stir with cold water well until you make sure yogurt and water are mixed well.
-
Wash the cucumbers and peel them and then grate the cucumbers to the bowl and add the crushed garlic.
-
Chop the pinch of dill and add to the bowl with salt. Stir all and make sure all mix well.
-
Distribute the Cacik to the small bowls evenly and it is ready to serve.
Recipe Notes
Tip: Garnish it with drops of olive oil into the each small bowl and place the fresh mint leaves on to the olive oil drops.
