Is this indeed a Greek recipe?

[Milagai]

Recently at a friend's house I ate grapes, with

a yogurt + mint dressing.

Really good, so simple.

She said it was Greek (she isn't, I'm not,)

but I want to know more?

I could not find this on google at all.

Any insights?

Thanks in advance

Milagai

[mizducky]

Recently at a friend's house I ate grapes, with

a yogurt + mint dressing. 

Really good, so simple.

She said it was Greek (she isn't, I'm not,)

but I want to know more?

I could not find this on google at all.

Any insights?

Thanks in advance

Milagai

←

Hmmmm ... I'm not Greek either, but I understand that a lot of people put mint in their recipes for tzatziki (Greek yogurt/cucumber dip).

[piazzola]

As far as I know Greeks don't use mint in tzaziki, rigani is used(Greek oregano)

though Lebanese may use it for their flat bread rolled sanwiches chopped salad and chcken or beef or otherwise it is raita the well known refreshing Indian chutney.

Edited September 13, 2005 by piazzola (log)

[Hector]

Think that mint and yogurt dressing might be what people imagine as "greek style" but it probably the combination is more often found in other parts of the mediterranean where the cooking is very much related to Greek cooking (e. g The Middle East, Bulgaria).

Edited September 16, 2005 by Hector (log)

[Carrot Top]

Milagai, the only similar thing I have heard of with grapes is very cold grapes served with sour cream and a generous sprinkling of brown sugar. That is very good. But I have no idea of the provenance of the recipe.

[ludja]

Milagai, the only similar thing I have heard of with grapes is very cold grapes served with sour cream and a generous sprinkling of brown sugar. That is very good. But I have no idea of the provenance of the recipe.

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Jean Anderson in "The American Century Cookbook: most popular recipes of the 20th century" says that in her research this recipe showed up in "Ladies Home Journal" in the 50's. She thinks it arose due to promotions by Thompson Seedless Grapes.

The dish alluded to in the first recipe sounds like something that people might make in Greek homes even if it isn't a "known" recipe. Grepes, mint, yogurt: all Greek ingredients.

Both these recipes sound good; I need to try them this fall.

[piazzola]

The dish alluded to in the first recipe sounds like something that people might make in Greek homes even if it isn't a "known" recipe.  Grepes, mint, yogurt: all Greek ingredients.

Both these recipes sound good; I need to try them this fall.

←

No way! I have asked few of the Greeks in the neighbourhood no one knows this as a Greek recipe even though Melbourne is hosts the largest Greek community outside Greece and second largest to Athens and people come from all parts of Greece.

Greeks are very conservative people they make good food but this does not seem to fit their traditional food habits not to even the ones that come from Alexandria.

[ludja]

The dish alluded to in the first recipe sounds like something that people might make in Greek homes even if it isn't a "known" recipe.  Grepes, mint, yogurt: all Greek ingredients.

Both these recipes sound good; I need to try them this fall.

←

No way! I have asked few of the Greeks in the neighbourhood no one knows this as a Greek recipe even though Melbourne is hosts the largest Greek community outside Greece and second largest to Athens and people come from all parts of Greece.

Greeks are very conservative people they make good food but this does not seem to fit their traditional food habits not to even the ones that come from Alexandria.

←

Good to know, thanks.

[Milagai]

Thank you all for the feedback!

Well, Greek or not, it was rather good;

so will continue to enjoy but will search for

a new name

Milagai

[Hector]

How do you make it?

[sazji]

There seems to be a tendency to label all sorts of things Greek, the only requirement being that it have either feta cheese, or oregano, or perhaps be a bit heavy on the olive oil. Most of them would leave your average Greek housewife scratching her head.

Until recently, for most Greeks, the thought of putting fruit or anything sweet in yogurt was anathema, the exception being maybe a bit of honey or sugar, but even this was mostly seen as something for kids. When I lived there, I used to take a syrup-soaked pastry known mostly in the north, called a "Rox," and eat it with yogurt, to the horror/disgust/both of my friends.

Now, for better or worse, the Greek supermarkets are full of yogurts flavored with all manner of sweet stuff. And whereas the yogurt used to be uniformly good, now they are beginning to produce some of the over-adulterated products that are almost the rule in the US (yogurt with gelatine, carageenan, modified food starch, etc.) and people are loving it, feeding them to their kids... This change in diet has caused Greece (where in the 70s you hardly saw overweight young people) to have the highest rate of childhood obesity in Europe...

bob

[ludja]

There seems to be a tendency to label all sorts of things Greek, the only requirement being that it have either feta cheese, or oregano, or perhaps be a bit heavy on the olive oil.    Most of them would leave your average Greek housewife scratching her head.

Until recently, for most Greeks, the thought of putting fruit or anything sweet in yogurt was anathema, the exception being maybe a bit of honey or sugar, but even this was mostly seen as something for kids.  When I lived there, I used to take a syrup-soaked pastry known mostly in the north, called a "Rox," and eat it with yogurt, to the horror/disgust/both of my friends.

Now, for better or worse, the Greek supermarkets are full of yogurts flavored with all manner of sweet stuff.  And whereas the yogurt used to be uniformly good, now they are beginning to produce some of the over-adulterated products that are almost the rule in the US (yogurt with gelatine, carageenan, modified food starch, etc.) and people are loving it, feeding them to their kids... This change in diet has caused Greece (where in the 70s you hardly saw overweight young people) to have the highest rate of childhood obesity in Europe...

bob

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Thanks for the 'inside info" sazji and welcome to egullet!

Hopefully enough people will continue to insist on the good stuff. It's sad to see that this is a battle everywhere to some extent.

[Athenaeus]

I grew up in Greece knowing that if I ever ate yoghurt with grapes I risked to be seriously poisoned.

So, I am surprized to learn that the combination of grapes and yoghurt was introduced to you as a Greek delicacy.

As for tzatziki, neither mint not oregano is included in the basic recipe. Just garlic and cucumber!

[sazji]

As for tzatziki, neither mint not oregano is included in the basic recipe. Just garlic and cucumber!

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I'd insist on some fresh dill too...