Çoban Salatası

Turkey's everyday salad: ripe tomato, crisp cucumber, onion, and pepper diced small and tossed with a great deal of chopped flat-leaf parsley, dressed simply with olive oil, lemon, and a scatter of sumac, the fresh green foil to every Turkish grill

Origin: Turkey

From the journey of Parsley.

Çoban salatası, the 'shepherd's salad', is the everyday salad of Turkey, set on the table at almost every meal and beside almost every kebab. It is a salad of small, even dice, ripe tomato, crisp cucumber, onion, and green pepper cut to a uniform size, and bound together by a generous quantity of chopped flat-leaf parsley, the herb (maydanoz) that the Turkish kitchen uses with a freedom unknown in cooler Europe. Dressed with nothing more than good olive oil, lemon juice or sumac for sharpness, and salt, it is fresh, sharp, and crunchy, the cooling green counterpoint to the rich, smoky meat of the grill. The parsley is not a garnish here but a defining ingredient, woven through every forkful, in the generous Levantine-and-Anatolian manner.

Ingredients

Salad

  • 4 ripe tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced
  • 1 cucumber, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 small red onion, finely diced
  • 1 green pepper (Turkish sivri or a sweet pepper), finely diced
  • 1 large handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (about 30g)

Dressing

  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lemon, juiced (or 2 tbsp red wine vinegar)
  • 1 tsp ground sumac
  • 0.75 tsp salt

Method

  1. Dice the tomato, cucumber, onion, and pepper into small, even pieces, roughly the same size, and put them in a bowl.
  2. Add the chopped parsley and toss to combine.
  3. Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, sumac, and salt, pour over the salad, and toss well.
  4. Let the salad sit for 5 minutes for the flavours to mingle, then taste and adjust the salt and lemon, and serve.

Notes

Some versions add crumbled white cheese (beyaz peynir), olives, or a little chopped mint; the constants are the small dice, the abundant parsley, and the sumac-sharp dressing. A finely diced fresh green chilli is a common addition. Serve alongside any Turkish grill, pilaf, or mezze spread.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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