Bulgarian Cucumber Soup With Walnuts

By Martha Rose Shulman

Updated November 14, 2022

  • Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
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Total Time
30 minutes, plus 1 hour's refrigeration
Rating
5(291)
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Walnuts are used in sweet and savory dishes throughout the Mediterranean. Along the Italian Riviera, a rich ricotta and walnut sauce traditionally is served with ravioli filled with greens. In Turkey, a thick, garlicky walnut sauce called tarator is served with cooked vegetables, much as aïoli is in the South of France. In France, walnuts are added to salads, breads and many desserts, and they are eaten fresh as well as dried — a great delicacy in the fall, just after the harvest. I’ve never encountered creamy, fresh walnuts in American farmers’ markets, but if you know a walnut farmer, perhaps you could request some the next time they’re harvested. Before the weather becomes too chilly for cold soups, try this one. Bulgaria once was well known for the number of centenarians in its population, which some scientists attributed to the daily consumption of Bulgarian yogurt. Now, both the yogurt and eating culture in this mountainous country have changed for the worse, and so have local lifespans.

Featured in: The Mediterranean’s Secret Ingredient: Walnuts

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves four

FOR THE BULGARIAN CUCUMBER SOUP WITH WALNUTS

  • 2 to 4 garlic cloves to taste, peeled, green shoots removed

  • Salt to taste

  • 2 cups thick plain yogurt (Greek style, or drained)

  • 2 tablespoons walnut or olive oil, or 1 tablespoon each

  • ⅔ cup (2 ounces) shelled walnuts, finely chopped

  • 1 European cucumber, about 10 inches long, or 3 Persian cucumbers, cut in very small dice

  • ½ cup ice-cold water, preferably spring water

  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

  • Freshly ground pepper

FOR THE GARNISH

  • Ice cubes (optional)

  • Finely chopped walnuts

  • Extra virgin olive oil

  • Finely chopped fresh dill or mint

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

10 grams carbs; 16 milligrams cholesterol; 263 calories; 9 grams monosaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 23 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 495 milligrams sodium; 7 grams protein; 7 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. FOR THE BULGARIAN CUCUMBER SOUP WITH WALNUTS

    1. Step 1

      Place the garlic in a mortar with ½ teaspoon salt, and mash to a paste.

    2. Step 2

      Place the yogurt in a large bowl. Stir in the oil, garlic and walnuts. Whisk in the water and the lemon juice. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Chill for one hour or longer.

    3. Step 3

      Meanwhile, season the cucumbers lightly with salt, and allow to drain in a colander for 15 minutes. Add to the yogurt mixture and stir together.

    4. Step 4

      If you wish, place an ice cube in each bowl, and ladle in the soup. Top with chopped walnuts, a drizzle of olive oil if desired, and a sprinkling of dill or mint.

Tip

  • Advance preparation: You can make this several hours before serving it. Keep the soup base and the cucumbers separately refrigerated. The longer the soup sits, the more pungent it will become.Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
291 user ratings
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Comments

Rosa Angelova

You can shred the cucumbers instead of finely chopping them - it's just another variation of the soup. The Bulgarian recipe I grew up with has no lemon/lime juice, but way more dill than the recipe above. Fresh dill kind of makes the flavor of tarator and is not solely for garnish. This is a truly awesome summer soup!

Pat

For this soup - and for a lot of other recipes - I grate the garlic on a Microplane grater instead of pounding in a mortar.

Ron

This is very similar to "Cold Bulgarian Cucumber Soup" from the original version of Joy of Cooking. In that recipe the chopped cukes and walnuts are marinaded in the oil and salt, along with a couple tbsps of chopped fresh dill and some pepper. The mixture is only combined with the yogurt just before serving, but the finished soup keeps well for a couple of days.

The soup is the main reason I plant cucumbers and dill in my garden every year. Yum!

Adrian Soimu

In Turkey the thick, garlicky cucumber sauce (without walnuts) is called 'cacik". In Greece it's called 'tzatziki'. 'Tarator' is the Bulgarian name...

Dan

Bulgarian yogurt makes this soup special. A good Bulgarian yogurt tastes tart and a little gamy. Greek yogurt is thicker and has a more neutral taste than Bulgarian.

Jennie

I doubled this recipe and boldly used 5 cloves of garlic--really dumb, it's way too garlicky but other than that, so lip-smackingly delicious! And, obviously, the work of minutes provided one has purchased shelled walnuts. Fantastic.

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