The Balkans, or the southeastern corner of Europe south of the Danube and west of the Black Sea, has a fascinating and often tumultuous history. Fertile valleys and plains, broken up by various hills and mountains, were home to numerous ancient civilizations – Greeks, Illyrians, Dacians, Scythians, and Sarmatians. The Persian Achaemenids tried to expand their empire here just before and after 500 BC. During the 3^rd Century BC, there was even a brief Celtic incursion.

            The Romans were the first outside power to conquer and hold the Balkans. From the 2^nd Century BC to the 5^th Century AD, they both absorbed and influenced local cultures. Wealthy Romans were fascinated by Greek civilization, and many of the non-Greeks began to speak Latin. Anyone who spoke Latin or Greek and adopted Greco-Roman customs (which fused together somewhat during this time) could become a citizen, and many of the local people did. During the later Roman Empire, two of the most influential emperors, Diocletian and Constantine the Great, came from the Balkans, probably around modern-day Serbia.

            From the 3^rd Century AD onward, new waves of invaders entered the Balkans. The first were the Germanic Goths, who were eventually pushed back, but not before killing Emperor Decius in battle in 251 (Decius was also from the region, by the way). After abandoning the province of Dacia in modern-day Romania, the Romans secured the Danube frontier for another century, when various Germanic confederations pushed into the Balkans again, fleeing from the Huns. The Goths were back, accompanied by the Vandals and others.

            What happened next was complicated, but basically went as follows. The leader of the Goths, named Fritigern, asked the Romans if his people could settle in the Empire in exchange for military service. The Romans, facing manpower shortages, agreed, but then broke their word and mistreated the Goths, which led them to revolt. After they killed another emperor, named Valens, in battle in 378, the Romans eventually honored their agreement. Over the next decades, Germanic troops made up more and more of the army.

            After the Empire was divided for good in 395 AD, most of the Balkans became part of the Eastern Roman Empire. Through a combination of better leadership, greater wealth, and a shorter frontier, the Eastern Empire was able to force/bribe the Germanic groups to leave. These Goths, Vandals, etc. then headed west and dismantled the Western Roman Empire. After the Eastern Empire teamed up with the Western Empire and the Goths against the Huns in the 450s, the last “barbarian” group in the Balkans was the Ostrogoths, or Eastern Goths. The emperors sponsored sending them to Italy in the 490s to drive out the Visigoths, or Western Goths, and no Germanic confederations tried to invade the Balkans again. But that did not mean the region was safe, as I will explain in the next post.

            With so many diverse cultures coming and going, along with a favorable climate with plenty of sunshine and rain, the food in the Balkans became just as diverse. Records indicate that the Dacians grew wine grapes. The Romans, who valued fresh produce, either introduced or improved a variety of fruits and vegetables. They were known to enjoy cucumbers, which make up the base of tarator.

            In 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die on page 381, Mimi Sheraton suggests 3 ways to prepare walnuts, which have grown in the Balkans for millennia. One of those methods is an egg salad called aselila. Even with a walnut-based dressing replacing mayonnaise, the hard-boiled eggs are a non-starter for me. The walnut and cucumber mix sounds a little like tzatziki sauce, with cucumbers, yogurt, garlic, and dill. It is finished with a bit of sunflower oil and chopped walnuts. The whole idea seems a bit odd as a soup, but pretty good as a dip, so I made my recipe thicker.

            Preparation is simple. There are two tricks to get the best results. First, toss the diced or grated cucumbers with salt and let drain for an hour to remove excess moisture that might otherwise make the dip watery. Second, the garlic needs to be crushed with salt, but there is not enough of it to do so in a food processor. A mortar and pestle work best. Once this is done, combine with the yogurt and dill and let sit until the cucumbers are finished draining, so the flavors can infuse.

            Ingredients:

• 2 large or 4 small cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and diced or grated (I like diced for more texture)
• 1 ¼ teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed with the side of a knife, and coarsely chopped
• 1 cup whole milk plain yogurt (doesn’t have to be Greek yogurt, just make sure not to use low-fat or fat-free)
• A few sprigs dill, minced after removing any tough stems, or ½ teaspoon dried
• Sunflower oil, to drizzle
• Coarsely chopped walnuts, to garnish

            Directions:

1. Toss the cucumbers with one teaspoon of the salt and place in a colander to drain for an hour.
2. Place the garlic and remaining salt in the bowl of a mortar. Work with the pestle until a sticky, mostly smooth paste forms. A few lumps of garlic are fine.
3. Combine the yogurt, garlic paste, and dill in a bowl and allow to sit until the cucumbers are finished draining. Add the cucumbers to the yogurt mixture and discard the liquid.
4. Place the cucumber-yogurt mixture in a serving bowl. Drizzle with the sunflower oil and sprinkle liberally with the chopped walnuts.
5. Serve the dip with pitas, other bread, or crackers.

            Tarator seems odd as a soup, but as a dip, it’s fantastic. It sort of tastes like non-sour dill pickles, but creamy. Considering that tarator uses the same flavorings of salt, garlic, and dill, it makes perfect sense. The yogurt, sunflower oil, and chopped walnuts make it more substantial, so it could almost be a hot-weather meal on its own with pitas.

• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Reddit
• Tumblr
• X