Crispy Lemon Chicken with Za’atar & Celery Root Skordalia

One of my dreams is to live in either Tokyo or New York one day. Or, if I ever manage to be fluent in French, Paris would be cool, too.I want to be in a big city that has all kinds of cuisines, from all over the world. There’s just something very exciting about trying new food with a completely different flavor profile than we’re used to. I appreciate the novelty of exotic flavors, and at the same time this novelty makes the Vietnamese flavors I grew up with even more endearing and comforting.

Beet Tzatziki (no I can’t pronounce that either)

The first thing that struck me when I saw this…stuff is, oh dear god, it’s pink. Neon-pink. And then it hit me: it’s….BRILLIANT. It’s food that’s fucking pink! It makes me want to throw up because of the disco color, but it also looks so…different. So…attractive. Vibrant. Colorful. It’s genius! And I don’t even like pink! Right there, and then, at the famous Turkish bakery in Cambridge (Sofra), I made it my mission to make this meze at home.

Beet Tzatziki

Ingredients