Let’s Eat - Madzoon and Cucumbers

Let’s Eat — A Writer’s Guide to Cooking
For me, summer isn’t complete until I have had several installments of one of my all-time favorite dishes, madzoon and cucumbers. If you haven’t learned to make madzoon (yogurt) yet, I urge you to do so immediately. It isn’t hard, and the rewards are many. It’s possible to make madzoon and cucumbers with commercially made plain yogurt, but homemade madzoon makes this dish an emotionally charged experience that simultaneously awakens the senses and the intellect, banishes fear and malaise, and dramatically increases one’s ability to enjoy life. The procedure is simple: Put some madzoon in a bowl. If you are eating alone, use less and put it in a small bowl. If there are several of you, use more and put it in a big bowl. Add some cold water and stir thoroughly. Keep adding water and stirring until the madzoon is of an even, soupy consistency. Adjust the amount of madzoon and water until you have what looks like enough. Next, peel a cucumber, or part of a cucumber, or several cucumbers, depending on how much you’re making. Either grate or finely chop the cucumber into a separate bowl, then sprinkle on plenty of salt. Dump the salted cucumber into the madzoon mixture. There should be a lot of cucumber, not just a little. When the dish is ready to eat, every spoonful should have cucumber in it. Now add some finely chopped garlic. If you don’t like garlic, or are on your way to an important business meeting, you can leave it out. The result will still be great. But it’s even better with garlic. (If it were me, I would skip the meeting.) Stir it all together. After that, add some dried mint (also optional) and mix that in as well. It’s ready. If it’s a hot day and warm in the room, or if you won’t be eating yet for a little while, drop in a few ice cubes. For the greatest and most refreshing impact, the dish must be served cold. Madzoon and cucumbers can be kept refrigerated in a sealed container for several hours or overnight. It can be taken to work, or on picnics. If it has been sitting for awhile, just give it another stir, then serve.	Also by William Michaelian POETRY Winter Poems ISBN: 978-0-9796599-0-4 52 pages. Paper. —————————— Another Song I Know ISBN: 978-0-9796599-1-1 80 pages. Paper. —————————— Cosmopsis Books San Francisco Signed copies available Main Page Author’s Note Background Notebook A Listening Thing Among the Living No Time to Cut My Hair One Hand Clapping Songs and Letters Collected Poems Early Short Stories Armenian Translations Cosmopsis Print Editions Interviews News and Reviews Highly Recommended Favorite Books & Authors Useless Information Conversation Flippantly Answered Questions E-mail & Parting Thoughts
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Let’s Eat — A Writer’s Guide to Cooking