A Lenten dish across Greece, recorded in Byzantine cookery and tied historically to fasting periods when meat and dairy were forbidden — garlic and olive oil supplied the missing fat and intensity. Bread-based versions are older; potato versions are post-Columbian, after potatoes reached the eastern Mediterranean in the 18th century.
Lenten dip recorded in Byzantine cookery — garlic and olive oil supplied missing fat when meat and dairy were forbidden. Bread-based versions are older; potato versions are post-Columbian (potatoes reached the eastern Mediterranean only in the 18th century). Pound the garlic with salt first — the abrasion releases allicin without bitterness.
A thick off-white purée — somewhere between hummus and aioli — built on raw garlic pounded with bread or boiled potato and emulsified with olive oil and vinegar. Served cold, in a smear, alongside fried salt cod (bakaliaros), grilled beets, or fried zucchini. The garlic burn arrives late and lingers; a teaspoon is plenty.
Pound the garlic with salt before anything else — the salt acts as an abrasive that breaks the cell walls and releases allicin without making the paste bitter. Adding oil too fast breaks the emulsion. A blender heats the garlic and turns it metallic; mortar and pestle (or a careful slow processor pulse) is the only honest method.
Variations
Bread-based skordalia (older, looser); potato skordalia (denser, post-1700s); walnut skordalia (Roumeli, hill-country); almond version on Crete; served with bakaliaros (fried salt cod) on March 25 by tradition.
On the Palate
Where Skordalia sits in the Greek flavor cloud
Ingredients
How it's made
5 steps · 25 min
- 18 min
Boil potatoes until tender, then peel and mash.
Watch outBoil the potatoes whole and starchy until a knife slides clean through — waterlogged spuds thin the paste and it never comes together thick.
- 22 min
Crush garlic cloves into a paste with salt.
Watch outPound the garlic with the salt first until it's a smooth wet paste — the salt scours the cloves so they release without going bitter; skip it and the raw garlic bites metallic.
- 33 min
Mix mashed potatoes with garlic paste, gradually adding olive oil.
Watch outDrizzle the oil in a slow thread while you work it — pour too fast and the paste breaks, going oily and split instead of creamy.
- 43 min
Stir in vinegar to taste and adjust seasoning.
- 55 min
Blend until smooth and creamy.
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