Mike the Greek’s Famous Tzatziki

Or…what do you do with a huge cucumber harvest?

I enjoyed having lunch at a grungy diner run by a fellow known to his customers as “Mike the Greek”. About 5 foot tall, 300 pounds, always dressed in an apron, “wife-beater” T-shirt, wedge cap, and an unfiltered Camel between his lips (he was a chain smoker and this was before smoking indoors was banned).

While he may have been edgy, his food was marvelous – lamb skewers, a moussaka that could make you cry, even Israeli falafel and Egyptian-style dolmadakia. But the tzatzkiki… Opa!!

One day I asked him for the recipe and shockingly, he wrote it out for me on the back of a cigarette pack. Then a few weeks later he disappeared, and when I asked the new owner what happened to Mike, I learned (not surprisingly) that he succumbed to Stage 4 lung cancer.

So that’s why he gave me the recipe, he knew he was on the big bus outa town. Learning this made me sad, because I realized I should have gone wide and asked him for his moussaka recipe instead.

So as a homage to Mike, here is his recipe:

4 cups grated garden cucumber

3 cups Greek yoghurt (full fat recommended)

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

4 tbsp fresh garden dill or mint, shredded

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 cloves Rural Route Farms Northern Hard-neck garlic

1 tsp kosher salt

Pinch of either cumin or zaatar (Jordanian thyme)

Grate cucumber, then put in sieve.

Salt,

Stir, then use glass to press out water.

Let drain, repeat twice.

Put drained cucumber in bowl and add remaining ingredients.

Stir, taste, and adjust seasoning.

Serve as part of Greek appetizer platter, with naan bread, hummus, calamata olives or feta cheese cubes.

A word of warning: unless you are familiar with the pure but powerful taste and aroma of our Northern Hard-neck, start with 2 cloves and work your way up.

That's it! Now go enjoy the bounty of your garden cucumbers prepared with the o' so delicious garlic (from us truly)

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Written by Steve Halabura

(Co-owner & garlic aficionado)

All images provided by @JG Photography