Bulgarian · soup

Tarator (Chilled Cucumber, Yogurt and Walnut Soup)

Tarator (Chilled Cucumber, Yogurt and Walnut Soup) reads nutty 5.9, richness 4.8 and allium 4.0 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Bulgarian soup, about 1 hr 30 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 4.1 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.3 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 3.0 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 4.0 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 7.3 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.4 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Nutty 5.9 · Richness 4.8 · Allium 4.0 · Earthy 3.7 · Salinity 3.6 · Herbaceous 3.5 · Sourness 3.0 · Funk & Ferment 2.9 · Sweetness 2.3 · Bitterness 2.2 · Umami 1.8 · Warm Spice 0.9 · Floral 0.9

What's in it (10)

• pickling cucumber — 600 g
• plain yogurt — 700 g
• walnut halves — 80 g
• garlic — 9 g
• salt — 6 g
• sunflower oil — 41 g
• water — 250 g
• dill — 15 g
• water — 2880 g
• walnut — 20 g

Time & effort: about 1 hr 30 min (30 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 25.5 kcal, 1 g protein, 1.6 g fat, 1.8 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

1. Cut the cucumbers into 5 mm dice. Grating them makes tarator watery within the hour; the dice is what gives it its texture and is how it is served in Bulgaria.
2. Toss the dice with the salt and leave 10 minutes, then tip off the water that gathers.
3. Pound the 80 g of walnuts with the garlic and a pinch more salt in a mortar for about 5 minutes, to a coarse damp paste. A blender emulsifies the oil out of the nuts and gives a chalky result.
4. Work the sunflower oil into the walnut paste a teaspoon at a time, as you would for an aioli, until it is thick and glossy.
5. Whisk the yogurt smooth, then whisk in the ice-cold water until it pours like single cream. Bulgarian kiselo mlyako is thicker and sharper than western yogurt and the water is what turns it into a soup rather than a sauce.
6. Stir the walnut paste and the drained cucumber into the yogurt.
7. Chill at least 1 hour. It should be cold enough to ache.
8. Ladle into bowls, scatter the dill and the broken walnuts over, and drop two ice cubes into each bowl at the table.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Mast Khiar (Yogurt and Cucumber Dip) — Persian
• Bean Soup (Lobio) — Georgian
• Khatta Dhokla (Fermented Rice and Chana Dal Steamed Cake) — Indian · Gujarat
• Creamy Baba Ganouj Soup — Turkish
• Green Bean Amandine — French

Keep reading: what nutty, richness, allium mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.