Tzatziki

• 2 cupsfull-fat plain Greek yogurt · strained, not regular yogurt
• 1 largeEnglish cucumber · about 12 oz, coarsely grated
• 3/4 tspkosher salt · for the cucumber, most of it drains away
• 1/2 tspkosher salt · for the yogurt, to taste
• 2 clovesgarlic · grated on a microplane to a paste
• 2 tbspfresh dill · finely chopped
• 1 tbspfresh mint · finely chopped
• 1 tbsplemon juice
• 2 tspred wine vinegar
• 2 tbspextra-virgin olive oil · one in, one on top
• 1/4 tspblack pepper · cracked

Method

1. 1

   Salt the grated cucumber and walk away for thirty minutes

   A cucumber is about ninety-six percent water and all of that water is going somewhere. Grate it on the coarse side of a box grater, toss it with three quarters of a teaspoon of salt, and leave it in a colander over a bowl for thirty minutes. You will pour off a surprising amount of liquid, and every millilitre of it is liquid that would otherwise have thinned your tzatziki in the fridge overnight.

2. 2

   Then squeeze it properly, harder than feels reasonable

   Draining is not enough. Gather the cucumber in a clean tea towel or a double layer of cheesecloth and wring it out over the sink until nothing more comes. Twelve ounces of cucumber should come down to something that looks like a small handful of damp shreds. This single step is the difference between tzatziki you can stand a spoon in and a sauce that separates by dinner.

3. 3

   Use full-fat Greek yogurt, and do not substitute

   Greek yogurt is already strained, which is why it can hold cucumber at all. Regular plain yogurt has too much whey and will thin out no matter how well you drained. Full-fat rather than nonfat matters for the same reason it matters in every sauce, it carries flavour and it does not taste sour and thin. Skyr works. Labneh works and is even thicker. Sour cream is a different dip.

4. 4

   Grate the garlic to a paste, never chop it

   Chopped garlic sits in raw pieces that hit hot in the mouth and unevenly across the bowl. Grated on a microplane, or crushed with the flat of a knife and a pinch of salt until it is a smear, it disperses completely and reads as a background heat instead of an ambush. Two cloves is right for this quantity. Three if the tzatziki is going next to grilled lamb.

5. 5

   Acid from two places, lemon and vinegar

   Lemon alone tastes bright but flat, and red wine vinegar alone tastes sharp without the perfume. A tablespoon of lemon plus two teaspoons of vinegar gives you both the lift and the tang, and it is closer to what you get in Greece than the lemon-only version most recipes print. Add both at the end and taste before adjusting, because the yogurt is already slightly acidic.

6. 6

   Dill and mint, both, and chop them finely

   Dill is the signature and mint is what makes people ask what is in it. Two to one in favour of dill. Chop both very finely with a sharp knife rather than bruising them with a dull one, and stir them in at the end so they stay green. Dried dill is not a substitute here in any meaningful sense; if you only have dried, make a different sauce.

7. 7

   Let it sit an hour before you serve it, then taste again

   The garlic needs time to move through the yogurt and the salt needs time to find its level. Straight after mixing it tastes disjointed, garlic on top, salt underneath. An hour in the fridge and it comes together. Taste and correct the salt then, not before, because cold dulls perceived salt and a bowl seasoned to taste at room temperature will read as bland from the fridge.

8. 8

   How to use it, and how long it keeps

   Three days in the fridge in a sealed container, and it will be at its best on day one and day two. Any liquid that pools on top can be poured off or stirred back in. Serve it with grilled chicken or lamb, on a Greek chicken bowl, alongside roasted vegetables, with warm pita, or thinned with a spoon of water into a salad dressing. Finish the bowl with the second tablespoon of olive oil and a crack of pepper.