Looking at the vast wall of dairy treats at most supermarkets, you would never know that yogurt wasn’t supposed to be a dessert. As served in Mediterranean, Slavic and South Asian cuisines, yogurt is tart, salty and only occasionally sweetened with fruit.
Back in the 1960s, cultured milk was on nobody’s lips in the U.S. except ethnic immigrants. Hippies adopted yogurt and made it into a health food staple, but there was one thing standing between yogurt and acceptance by mainstream consumers: Americans like it sweet. That’s how you end up with plastic containers of sugary goop with flipover compartments full of chocolate chips, nuts, cereal and sauces.
Some yogurt companies have attempted savory flavors. One success story is Noosa’s marionberry blackberry and serrano chile, an Australian-style yogurt made near Fort Collins. The jury is still out on whether Americans will ever embrace yogurt flavored with sea salt, beet, spinach, onion and tomato.
Probiotic-mania and the thicker, high protein Greek-style boom have sparked a rediscovery of yogurt’s savory roots in the popular forms of tzatziki, raita and labneh.
Tzatziki (pronounced: tsat-see-kee) is a yogurt sauce made with cucumber, garlic, lemon juice and herbs, including mint or dill, and used on gyros and falafel. Tzatziki is ostensibly Greek but variations of it are dished around the Mediterranean and in the Middle East, as in Iran’s mast-o-khiar.
South Asian raita (pronounced: rahy-tuh) is also made from yogurt, and often cucumber and herbs, but frequently includes other vegetables. It tends to be zestier with the addition of chilies. Raita is a cooling condiment counterpoint for vindaloos and other capsaicin-infused entrees at Indian, Nepali and Tibetan restaurants.
Labneh (pronounced: leb-nay) is a versatile, savory Middle Eastern yogurt spread/dip made by straining already thick Greek-style yogurt until it becomes a soft cheese spread. Labneh can substitute for cream cheese in any dish.
All three are easy to find on menus at many small, family-run eateries in Boulder County. For instance, raita is served at Tiffins Indian Cafe and, only 20 yards away near the corner of Folsom and Arapahoe, tzatziki comes with sandwiches at Kalita Grill Greek Cafe. On the Hill, Alforat — a Middle Eastern eatery — dishes affordable rice-stuffed dolmas with tzatziki, olive oil-topped labneh with bread, and a great flatbread pizza topped with labneh and honey.
How to make cool condiments
Try these following recipes on the side to complement your summer grilled or smoked meat, fish and vegetables. The recipes are more like suggestions than hard-and-fast rules. Adjust the seasonings to your own taste.
For the yogurt, consider making your own Greek-style in a hot pot and straining it to a thickness you like. For a more authentic tzatziki/raita, make the yogurt with goat’s milk.
For the cucumbers, use firm, seedless English cucumbers or small pickling cucumbers, preferably local. Remove seeds, if any, before preparing tzatziki or raita. Dice or finely grate the cucumbers. Sprinkle them with salt and let them drain in a strainer for one to four hours in the refrigerator. Squeeze them dry in a kitchen towel. This keeps the sauces from getting watery.
Tzatziki
1 large cucumber, unpeeled
1 1/2 cups plain full-fat Greek yogurt
3 large garlic cloves, very finely chopped
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/3 teaspoon salt (or, to taste)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill herb
Prepare cucumber. (See above). Mix yogurt, garlic, oil, vinegar and salt in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Mix the grated cucumber and fresh dill with yogurt mixture, stir and serve.
Raita
1 large cucumber, unpeeled
1 1/2 cups plain full fat Greek-style yogurt
1 teaspoon (or more) cayenne
3 tablespoons finely minced cilantro
3/4 teaspoon garam masala (curry spice mixture)
1 small serrano or jalapeno chile, finely minced (optional)
1/3 teaspoon salt (or, to taste)
In a bowl whisk cayenne and garam masala into yogurt and add prepared cucumber (see above). Mix in cilantro and chile and toss again. Taste and adjust salt. Chill for at least four hours before serving.
Local food news
Boulder’s Foodlab offers a Mediterranean Tapas class June 28. Dishes include dolmas, carrot tahini salad, lamb meatballs and cucumber tzatziki. foodlabboulder.com … Mici Handcrafted Italian Restaurant opens this fall in Lafayette at 535 W. South Boulder Road, a former Starbucks site. It is the fifth location for the Denver-based fast-casual chain. … Recent hail storms hit Boulder County farms hard. To support those farmers (and save some money), head to the farmer’s markets and farm stands this week to buy seconds, slightly blemished greens and vegetables with all the taste and nutrition intact. … Plan ahead: The 20th annual Rocky Mountain Tea Festival is July 28-29 at the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House. rockymtnteafestival.com
Colorado = collaboration
I love the community spirit at work in the state’s food and beverage industry. The latest is the Colorado Whiskey Collaboration Project, which brought seven Colorado distilleries together recently to create a collective wheat whiskey. 291 Colorado Distillery, Bear Creek Distillery, Laws Whiskey House, Old Elk Distillery, State 38 Distilling, Woody Creek Distillers and Wood’s High Mountain Distillery crafted a whiskey and collectively filled a new, freshly toasted and charred white oak barrel. It will be aged two years at Laws to make it an official Straight Wheat Whisky yielding about 900 bottles to be auctioned off to benefit local charities.
Taste of the week
The Chipotle Mexicano sauce from Boulder-based Chiporro Sauce Co. really surprises your mouth… in a good way. Starting out savory with notes of tomato, onion, bell pepper and garlic, the sauce gets hotter (but not blistering) with chipotle chilies and ends up smoky and complex. It is among six hot sauces developed by Peruvian-born chef Carlos Ruiz, including Rocoto Hot Sauce (made from Peruvian rocoto peppers) and Hawaiian BBQ Sauce. They are available at local markets including Natural Grocers, Whole Foods, Lucky’s Market and Cured.
Words to chew on
“If the Trump administration’s policies are inhumane, why should we offer its agents comfort in spaces that are designed to explicitly showcase the cultures they despise?” —Amy McCarthy, Eater
John Lehndorff claims to be Colorado’s first-ever male newspaper food editor. He hosts Radio Nibbles on KGNU. Listen to podcasts at: news.kgnu.org/category/radio-nibbles.
