Greek salad
Horiatiki — the village salad
Elies tsakistes (coriander crushed olives) are a popular meze all throughout Cyprus: crushed green olives marinated with coriander seeds, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil.
The word ‘tsakistes’ in Greek translates to ‘cracked’, because of the method used to make this dish. Traditionally each olive is cracked or crushed with a smooth stone so the added ingredients can penetrate the olive flesh. In modern times a mortar and pestle can be used too.
Collect your olives while they are still young and green from an olive tree. They must be picked before they ripen into a dark purple or black colour. Wash them thoroughly with water.
Use a large smooth stone to crack the olives — alternatively, a mortar and pestle. It’s important not to over-crack them: you still want them semi-attached to the pip, just opened, so the salt-water marinade can penetrate the flesh.
Add the cracked olives to a large jar of salt water.
Change the salt water once every three days. Olives are quite bitter and unpleasant straight from the tree, and soaking them while changing the water regularly reduces that bitterness. Set the olives aside in a bowl, fill the jar just over three-quarters with fresh water so it doesn’t spill when the olives go back in, add a few heaped tablespoons of salt and stir well to dissolve. Change the water about 3 times, every three days.
After the final water change, change the water once more and add a few tablespoons of salt. Add lemon wedges and a few crushed garlic cloves to the salt-water solution. Add the olives back to the jar and pour a few drops of olive oil on top, making sure the marinade covers the olives. Tighten the lid and leave to marinate for about 40 days.
After a month, try an olive to see if you’re happy with the flavour. Before serving you can add a few more slivers of garlic and crushed coriander seeds and mix it all together — the added garlic and coriander will intensify the flavour.
Serve as a meze alongside the other dips and a village salad, with bread to follow the oil.
Horiatiki — the village salad
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