Mediterranean Dips

Recap of lessons we learned

Taming raw garlic

The characteristic strong flavor of raw garlic isn’t present until we start cutting it. Alliin and alliinase combine to form allicin, which has a very pungent flavor. The more we cut garlic, the stronger flavor will be.

I really like using a Microplane to grate garlic, but this yields the strongest possible flavor.

Allicin production can be inhibited by putting the garlic into lemon juice. It’s important to do this quickly, since allicin will continue to increase once the garlic is cut.

Bottom line: for pleasant raw garlic flavor, juice your lemon, then grate garlic directly into the lemon juice.

Removing water from cucumber

For applications where we don’t want to introduce extra liquid (like tzatziki), we want to reduce the water content of cucumbers—which are 96% water!

This can be easily achieved by grating the cucumber, then squeezing dry in a clean dish towel.

Recipes are just a starting point

It’s a good reminder that recipes are just arbitrary instructions written by another human, not unlike you.

If you find a recipe you really like, great. You can follow it to get consistent results and continue enjoying a dish you love.

But you can also treat a recipe as a suggestion. You can omit, substitute, and play with the ingredients and amounts.

Which leads us to the most important lesson of all!

Taste and adjust

At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that you made something you enjoy.

Taste the food you’re making as you go. If you don’t like what you’re tasting yet, it’s not usually too hard to balance the flavors.

Salt is usually your first stop. You can add something acidic or sweet. You can add more herbs or spices.

Have fun! It’s just food. If it’s not great, there’s another meal coming soon.