Skordalia
A thick Greek dip of mashed potato, raw garlic, olive oil and vinegar, with a bite that wakes up fried fish and roast vegetables.
Photograph credit: Skordalia (image of skordalia on Wikidata Q1753265) by Amymoni · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
It tastes of garlic, and nothing in the recipe tries to hide that. Skordalia is a Greek garlic sauce that goes with fried salt cod, beetroot, courgette fritters and roast vegetables, and the amount of garlic is a matter of family pride. Five cloves makes a mild one; eight makes one that clears a room.
The base is a floury potato, boiled until soft and mashed while hot. Use a ricer if you have one. A food processor makes potato gluey. Mash the potato while it is still hot and add the olive oil gradually. Cold potato does not absorb oil, and the sauce turns heavy.
Crush the raw garlic with a pinch of salt in a mortar into a smooth paste, then work in the potato, adding olive oil in a thin stream, as if making mayonnaise. Finish with red wine vinegar. The sauce should be thick enough to hold a spoon, but loose enough to scoop with bread.
Taste and adjust. If it is too sharp, add a splash of water or a little more oil. Serve at room temperature, drizzled with extra olive oil.
How to Make Skordalia
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Boil the potatoes in salted water for 20 minutes until completely soft. Drain well and mash while hot.
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Crush the garlic with the 1/2 tsp salt to a smooth paste. Stir into the potato.
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Beat in the olive oil in a thin stream, then the vinegar and water, until the sauce is thick and creamy.
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Taste and adjust. Serve at room temperature.
Tips That Matter
- Use floury potatoes such as Maris Piper.
- Start with fewer garlic cloves if you are cautious.
- Add the oil slowly.
Ingredient Swaps
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
What to Serve With It
Fried fish · Roasted beetroot · Courgette fritters · Crusty bread
Storage
Keeps in the fridge for 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. Sodium is not given, because the salt for the cooking water is in the ingredient list but most of it is poured away with the water, so no figure from the list would be honest. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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