Tarator (Cyrillic: Таратор, also called Таратур in Macedonian) is a cold soup (or a liquid salad), popular in the summertime in Bulgaria and Macedonia. It is made from yoghurt, cucumbers, garlic, nuts, dill, vegetable oil, and water. It can be served 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.

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

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: grate or chop the cucumber into little pieces. Dilute the yoghurt with water (two parts of water mix with three parts of yogurt). Grate the garlic, nuts and dill and mix all the ingredients together. Season with salt, oil and vinegar on your taste.

Back to SOUPS