The Origins and Evolution of Tzatziki, a Greek Dipping Sauce

 Combine Greek yogurt, cucumber, and garlic to create the base of one of Greece’s most popular dipping sauces or toppings. Tzatziki is commonly served with souvlaki, another popular Greek dish of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. Tzatziki is also eaten with appetizers such as calamari and as a vegetable dip or bread dip. Greek historians date tzatziki's origins to the Ottoman Empire. Since its arrival, it has evolved to take on different flavors.

The most common way to make tzatziki is to mix Greek yogurt, garlic, and cucumber with olive oil, salt, and lemon or vinegar with herbs, such as mint, parsley, dill, and thyme. The dipping sauce is comparable to Turkish cacik, which has the consistency of soup and is served cold.

Historians say that yogurt, the main ingredient in tzatziki, was invented in Mesopotamia circa 5,000 BC when people had to drink milk immediately to keep it from spoiling. Herders then began carrying milk around in bags made of animal stomachs. The milk eventually curdled after exposure to stomach acids, introducing yogurt to the human palate. However, ancient Greek historical records say that yogurt appeared in the human diet in 100 BC.

In 1469, the dish matabe surfaced in Ottoman records, with chard replacing cucumber and other greens replacing herbs. In the 17th century, a travelogue writer mentioned the Armenian word cacix or cacig, which referred to edible herbs or greens. Herders added them to yogurt to add flavor to plain yogurt.

Another plausible explanation of how the Greeks adopted the dish was through trade between India and Persia. When Persians returned to the Middle East, they shared an Indian dish called raita with the Greeks. Greek and Persian cuisine has similarities, namely their use of yogurt-based dishes.

Regardless of its origins, historians say that Greeks borrowed the word tzatziki from dishes in nearby countries. Regardless of the word’s origin, cooks added different flavors to the yogurt, and the dish evolved into Greek tzatziki.

Tzatziki has spread to countries throughout the world and evolved. Greeks, for example, make two versions of the dipping sauce using an herb called purslane, which grows wild throughout the country and can be eaten alone, with olive oil and vinegar, or as part of horiatiki, a popular Greek salad.

One version of the dipping sauce mixes purslane with olive oil, red wine vinegar, and dill. The other version combines purslane with cilantro, ground coriander seeds, fresh mint, and parsley. Both tzatzikis mix these ingredients with a yogurt, cucumber, and garlic base.

Other versions of the dipping sauce add more lemon to the yogurt or replace the dill in the original recipe with mint. Mexican-style tzatziki replaces dill with an equal amount of cilantro and a mixture of lemon juice and lime juice. This version is a topping for burritos, taco salad, and tacos.

The Italian version of the dipping sauce adds a one-quarter cup of sun-dried tomatoes and fresh oregano with or without dill. Italian tzatziki is eaten with hamburgers or focaccia, an Italian flatbread. Cooks can flavor the dipping sauce to their taste with ingredients such as avocado, ranch dressing, sour cream and onion, or paprika for a smoky flavor.

The Ancient Olympics Were a Tribute to Zeus

 The Greeks hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896. Before that time, no one had held Olympic Games since AD 393, when the Romans conquered the Greeks and banned the games. Today’s Olympics draws athletes from around the world to participate in friendly competition.

Unlike today’s Olympic Games, the games held in ancient Greece were to honor Zeus, the father of all Greek gods. Ancient Greeks held multiple sporting events throughout the year. The Olympics (Olympia), the Pythian Games (Delphi), Nemean Games (Nemea), and Isthmian Games (near Alexandria) are believed to have started by the close of the sixth century BC, with the Olympics the most famous of the four.

Like its modern counterpart, the Olympic Games of antiquity took place every four years. Before its end, nearly 800 Olympic champions took part in the games, according to historians. All of the Greek sporting games, including the Olympics, began with a ceremonial truce called Ekecheiria, which means “holding of hands.” This truce, inscribed on a bronze disc and displayed in Olympia, allowed athletes and fans to travel safely throughout the city while creating peace among the warring Greeks.

Some of the events held in antiquity were the same as the games held in the modern Olympics. For example, foot races, wrestling, javelin throwing, discus throwing, boxing, jumping, and the pentathlon were also events in ancient times. At some point, the games included events for boys, and later, athletes competed in races in partial armor. Athletes also competed in chariot racing and horse racing in the hippodrome south of the stadium.

In the footraces, competitors ran one length of the track at Olympia. The race was called a stade, named after a track measuring 150 to 200 meters. The word stadium derives from stade. Other races included the diaulos, a two-length race measuring 400 meters; and the dolichos, a long-distance race comparable to modern 1,500- or 5,000-meter races.

Some of the ancient events were completely different from today’s Olympic events. For instance, pankration (a combination of wrestling, boxing, and kicking) was a brutal combat sport with no rules. Pankration champions earned nicknames from their signature moves. For example, one fighter took the name “Fingertips” because of his penchant for breaking his opponent’s fingers. The Olympics also hosted chariot races and horse races.

According to Greek myth, heroes and gods competed at the first Olympic Games at Olympia. Zeus wrestled Kronos, his father. Apollo beat Ares in a boxing match and outran Hermes. The god credited with founding the Olympic Games, Herakles, won several pankration events. In reality, the first Olympic champion was a man, not a god. A cook named Coroebus of Elis won a sprint in 776 BC.

Furthermore, the games were a part of a religious festival. The Greeks held the first Olympic Games in a place sacred to them, the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia. The Greeks named the sanctuary after Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in mainland Greece and home to gods and goddesses in Greek mythology. Instead of gods competing with each other, men from all over the Greek Empire who shared the same religious beliefs competed in honor of the gods.