makes about 2½ cups (600 ml)
One of the best dishes during periods of fasting in Greece is tahinosalata, a deeply satisfying, velvety spread made with tahini (sesame paste), lemon juice, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Avocado enhances the texture and pairs beautifully with the nutty flavor of the tahini. Try this as a sandwich spread. It works well with grilled vegetable sandwiches and vegetable patties (see here). It’s also great with falafel!
2 cups (480 ml) mashed ripe avocados
3 tablespoons tahini
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin Greek olive oil
2 to 3 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
Dash of hot sauce or Aleppo pepper
Pinch of ground cumin
Salt
Place the mashed avocado and tahini in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until smooth and thick. Add the garlic and olive oil and pulse to puree and combine. Add water and lemon juice in 1 tablespoon increments, pulsing after each addition, until the mixture is creamy, smooth, and spreadable (you may use 3 to 6 tablespoons water). Season with the hot sauce, cumin, and salt to taste. Serve.
Avocados are not native to Greece, but over the last decade or so, there has been a concerted effort to farm them there, as the country’s temperate climate is conducive to their cultivation. Most Greek avocados grow in Crete and the Peloponnese.
Greek cooks have embraced the avocado, too. For one, its rich texture has the same satisfying appeal as many of the country’s traditional olive oil–based vegetable dishes, a smooth, buttery quality to which the Greeks are naturally accustomed. Avocados are also surprisingly compatible with many of the most basic ingredients in the Greek kitchen, from the fish roe called tarama to feta, Greece’s national cheese, to the range of herbs, spices, and citrus fruits used most in the cuisine, to tahini and even olive oil.
